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1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

HISTORY 


OF  THB 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 


FROM  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  CONTINENT. 


BY 


GEORGE  BANCROFT. 


«l)e  ^tttljor'e  Cast  UctJisio 


VOLUME   V. 


ill 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY. 

1890. 


oopTBionr, 
By    GEOKGE    BANCEOFT, 

1866,  1874, 1876,  1878,  1884. 


COITENTS  OF  THE  FIFTH  YOLUME. 

THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

IN  FIVE  EPOCHS. 
ir.-AME2ilCA  Ilf  ALLIANCE  WITB  FRANCE. 

CHAPTER   I. 

OAX  THE   TniBTE-.^   rmXKn   SXATKB   MAI^TAIK   THKIB   mDEPKKDEXOE? 

July-August  1776. 

^^y  the  convention  of  New  York      .  •        •        •        . 

In  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and  South  Carolina 

The  exchange  of  prisoners  agreed  upon.  '  Plan  oi"  a  conf ederaiion 

Sh^rte     r.-'  ^""^'^'^-     "'"^  "^^''^'^^  °^  confederatt  n  com.i  . 
Shall  white  inhabitants  only  be  counted  for  taxation  ? 

What  are  to  be  the  powers  of  the  general  congress  ?        '        ' 

sr.:  t^i,  i-r:  "^  - '°  - """-  ---» 

Character  of  Deane.    Advice  of  Vergennes  rearl  tn*t),«  i'-      •'        '   •     ' 
Beaumarchais  and  friends  of  An,ericf"n  France  '  "  """'"" 

Marquis  de  Lafayette.    The  king  of  Spain  and  his  minislers  ! 
Public  opinion. in  England      .        .        .  "i^tcio  . 

Britain's  chances  of  success    ..."**'* 
Circumstances  favoring  America     '.'.*''* 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   HETRKAT   FBOM   LOKQ   ISLAND. 

August  1776. 
State  of  affairs  round  New  York 
Relation  of  John  Adams  to  Washington  and  t^  Gat'es     ." 


PAGE 

.     3 
.     8 

.  4 
.  6 
.  6 
.  1 
.  8 
.  9 
,  10 
.  11 
■  12 

13 

14 

16 

16 

17 

18 

20 
21 
21 
22 


24 
25 


iv 


CONTENTS. 


Exertions  of  Connecticut.    The  defences  of  New  York  city  and  Brooklyn       l"*"" 

The  British  array  lands  on  Long  Inland 27 

The  British  and  the  American  forces  on  Long  Island 28 

Plan  of  attack  by  Howe 29 

Conduct  of  Putnam 3q 

The  British  in  Brooklyn '  3j 

Sullivan  taken  prisoner 32 

The  capture  of  Stirling.     British  and  American  losses 33 

The  American  array.    Character  of  General  Howe 31 

Approaches  of  the  British  army 35 

Washington  prepares  for  a  retreat 3g 

His  watchfulness  and  activity 3^ 

The  retreat  from  Long  Island gg 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    PE0QRES8    OF    THE    HOWB8. 

August  30  to  September  1776. 

Sullivan  a  volunteer  mediator.    Conduct  of  Howe 

Sullivan  before  congress.    The  city  of  New  York  not  defensible    . 

Committee  of  congress  appointed  to  meet  Lord  Howe 

Opinion  of  Washington's  council  of  war.    Congress  yields  to  his  advice 
Interview  between  Lord  Howe  and  the  committee  of  congress.     Their  report 
The  British  land  on  New  York  island.    Flight  of  the  Americans 
Washington's  courage.    Results  of  the  day    .... 

Skirmish  near  Manhattanville 

Joint  declaration  of  Lord  Howe  and  his  brother    .        ,        .        ^ 
Great  fire  in  New  York  oity.    Death  and  character  of  Nathan  Hale 
Morgan  and  the  Quebec  prisonevs  reach  New  Jersey  on  parole 
Franklin,  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee  commissioners  to  France     . 
The  American  navy,  privateers,  and  army      .... 
Congress  provides  no  permanent  army.    The  use  of  militia    . 


39 
40 
41 

42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
60 
51 
52 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OPINION   IN   ENGLAND.      BOEDER   WAR   IN   AMERICA. 

July-November  1776. 

Fox.    The  opening  of  parliament 53 

Speeches  of  Cavendish,  Wilkes,  Lord  North,  Barr6,  Germain         .        ,        .54 
Fox  speaks  for  independence.    Applauded  by  Gibbon  and  Burke  .        .        .65 

Perplexity  of  the  ministry 55 

Character  of  Fox gg 

Clemency  of  Carleton.    His  plan  of  campaign 53 

Strife  for  mastery  on  Lake  Champlain 59 

Arnold's  defeat gO 

Carleton  closes  the  campaign  in  the  North qi 


CONTENTS. 


Lee  19  called  to  the  North.    The  Cherokees  engage  in  war 
Neutrality  of  the  Creeks.    The  Cherokees  receive  checks 
They  beg  for  mercy.    East  Tennessee  is  named  Washington .' 

CHAPTER  V. 

WHITE   PLAINS.      FOOT   WASHINGTON. 

October  1-November  16,  1776. 
Washington  on  the  heights  of  Harlem.    His  lines  of  defence 

Fort  Washington  and  the  ground  near  it,    Greene  at  Fort  Lee 

Charles  Lee's  character  and  opinions 

Political  divisions  in  Pennsylvania.    Its  convention 

Defects  of  its  constitution     .... 

Single  legislative  assembly  disapproved  of     . 

Affairs  in  New  Jersey 

Howe,  Washington,  congress,  and  John  Adams 

Dangers  on  the  Hudson.    Confidence  of  congress.    Of  Greene 

Howe  at  Throg's  Neck  ..... 

Washington  holds  a  council  of  war.    Opinion  of  Lee 

Howe  strikes  at  White  Plains 

Washington's  choice  of  a  camp 

The  British  repulsed  from  Fort  Washington.     Greene  elated 

He  finds  fault  with  Washington    . 

Howe  attacks  Chatterton  Hill 

The  result  of  the  campaign  thus  far 

Greene  reinforces  Fort  Washington 

Washington's  instructions  to  Greene 

His  instructions  to  Lee  .... 

Greene  disregards  Washington's  orders."    The  consequence 

The  defence  of  Mount  Washington 

Its  surrender 

Loss  of  both  parties 

The  disingenuousness  of  Greene.    Magnanhnky  of  Washington 


PAOI 

.  62 
,  63 
.     64 


68 
66 
66 
67 
67 
68 
68 
68 
69 

69 

70 

71 

72 

72 

78 

78 

74 

76 

76 

76 

77 

78 

79 
80 
80 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WASHINGTON'S  EETKEAT  THEOUGH  THE  JEB8ETS. 

November  17-December  13,  1776. 
Lee's  wilful  disobedience.    Greene  surprised  . 
Events  in  New  Jersey  ...  •        •        . 

Spirited  conduct  of  Mifflin.  The  times  that  tried  men's  souls 
Conduct  of  Dickinson,  Schnyler,  Wayne,  TrnmbuU,  the  Howes 
Washington  reaches  Trenton 

Washington  retreats  beyond  the  Delaware.    Intrigues  of  Lee 
iiis  defiant  conduct  and  orders 
His  cowardly  surrender  .  •        •        .        . 


81 
82 
83 
84 
84 
86 
86 
87 


vi 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEB  VII. 

TRENTON. 

December  11-26,  1776. 

Congress  adjourns  to  Baltimore.    Fortitude  of  Samuel  Adams  .        ,  ."b" 

Orders  of  Putnam 88 

The  Quakers.    John  Adams.    The  British  troops          .        .        !        !  !    89 

Rail  in  command  of  Trenton *  *    89 

Washington  in  adversity.    He  resolves  to  strike  the  enemy  at  Trenton '  .'    90 

He  proposes  a  complete  reform  in  the  army gj 

Gates  and  Sullivan  arrive.    Preparations  for  the  attack.    The  watchword  .'    92 

What  Grant  and  Rail  thought "    yg 

What  fJuropc  expected.     The  British  army  at  New  York       .         .        .  *     94 

Conduct  of  Gates.     Opinion  that  Washington  must  forego  the  expedition  .*     05 

His  desperate  condition.     Anderson's  attack 93 

The  revels  ot  Rail.     Washington  crosses  the  Delaware.     Sullivan         .  ,'     97 

Conduct  of  Stark.    Trenton  entered  on  both  sides.    Conduct  of  Rail   .  .'    98 

The  Hessians  surrender.    Effect  of  the  victory [99 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A88ANPINK  AND   PEINOETON. 

December  26,  177G-Jaiiuat7  1777. 
Measures  adopted  by  congress  at  Baltin;ore  . 


Cadwaladcr 


Confidence  reposed  in  Washington.  Financial  measures. 
Washington  pursues  the  enemy.  The  eastern  regiments 
To  Deum  sung  at  Quebec.    Washington  again  at  Trenton 

Arrival  of  Comwallis 

The  Brinish  army  goes  to  sleep.     Washington's  vi;,'ilance 

He  marches  by  night  to  Princeton         .... 

Battle  of  Princeton.    Mercer  mortally  wounded.     Washington  in  the  battle 

Mawhood's  retreat.     Washington  makes  for  the  highlands 

Gv^neral  Uowo  knighted.    Germain  unchangeably  merciless 

Proclamation  of  Washington.     The  people's  love  for  him 

Cavilled  at  in  congress 

His  answer. 


Strange  vote, 


Morris  and  Hooper  praise  him 


.  100 
.  101 
.  102 
.  108 
.  103 
.  104 
.  105 
.  106 
.  107 
.  108 
.  109 
.  109 
.  110 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OP  THE  8EVEEAL  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

1776-1783. 
Principles  of  the  new  constitutions  for  the  states  . 
Sovei-eignty  of  the  people.     Why  America  became  republican 

Constitutions  for  the  thirteen  states 

Qualifications  of  voters 

Method  of  voting.    Popular  branch  of  the  legislature    . 


Ill 
112 
113 
114 
116 


CONTENTS. 

Two  houses,  except  in  Pennsylvania  and  Georgia.    How  elected 

The  governor;  his  election,  q.ialilications,  term  of  ncrvice,  veto  power  ' 

The  appointing  power.     The  judiciary.     Aj.pointn.ent  of  judges 

Public  education.     Election  for  office.    Freedom  of  worship 

Freedom  of  mind.    Liberal  system  of  New  York.    The  free  black 

Protestantisn.  and  freedom  of  mind.   Tendency  to  separate  church  and  e'tate 

Public  worship  in  the  several  states       ... 

Virginia  disestablishes  the  Anglican  church.    The  rule  in  New  Jersey  ' 

Intestate  estates  in  Georgia.    Reform  of  the  rules  of  descent  in  Vir  Jni'a 

How  to  reform  constitutions.    The  rights  of  man  dedp-d 


VJl 

TAQM 

.  116 
117 
118 
119 
120 
121 
122 
128 
124 
128 


PRErABATIONS    FOB    THE 


CUAPTER  X. 

CAMPAIGN    OP    1777. 
AND   ENGLAND. 


FBANOE,   HOLLAND,   SPAIN, 


December  1770-May  1777. 
A  rival  to  Washington.     Kalb.    Lafayette 

Franklin  arrives  in  France.   Protest  oi  Lord  Stormont.  'Reply  of  Ver-^ennes 
American  commissioners  wait  on  Vergennes.    The  Count  de  Aranda  ° 
American  memorial  and  answer.    Policy  of  France  and  Spain 
Aids  from  France         •        .        .         . 

Overbearing  policy  of  England  toward  the  United  Provinces "        " 
War  in  disguise.    Public  opinion.    Bcaumarchuis  and  Maurepas  ' 
Character  of  Nccker.    Lafayette  and  Kalb.    The  women  of  Paris.*    PulaaU    132 
Opinion  of  Joseph  IL    French  sLipP  sail  for  America.   English  remons   rnce*    38 
American  privateers.    Demands  of  England.    Vergenneo  answers   "'*""'''■''' 
i!-ngland  delays  declaring  war.    France  and  Spain 

Fltidilll?''"    '':^^"^"'^'';--    _^^-i.y  compact!    Grimal.H 

Galvez.    Spain  opposed  to  American  independence 


120 
127 
128 
129 
130 
180 
181 


and  the  British  minister 
'rgennes 
>'"  German  princes 
Vienna 
lalt-Zerbst     . 
vagcs 


O'Reilly.     Lee  meets  Grimaldi.     Flor^- 
Spain  aids  America  secretly.    Floridi.. 
Britain  impmsses  American  sailors ;  ^ 
The  people  of  Germany.     Frederic  ot 
The  Catholic  princes  discouraged  the  sc 

Number  of  the  Germans,  employment  of 
Joseph  Brant 

La  Come  Saint-Luc.    Finances  of'  Amc'rica ;' of  En-land 
Sayings  of  Markham     ....  ° 

Advice  of  Burke,  Abingdon,  Fox,  and  Chatham 

CHAPTER  XI. 

TnK   OPENING  OP  THE   CAMPAIGN  OF   1777. 

March-July  1777, 
Importunity  of  Charles  Lee.     Attempts  to  negotiate  with  Washin^on 
Lee'3  treason.    What  was  thought  of  him  in  Europe    .        .        .^ 


.  134 

.  134 

.  136 

.  135 

.  136 

.  137 

.  138 

,  139 

140 

141 

142 

142 

143 

143 

144 


.  145 
.  146 


viil 


CONTENTS. 


The  Howes  at  variance  with  GermaJn    . 

Demand  for  reinforceraents  ....         * 

Enormous  fault  in  sending  them  by  way  of  Quobeo 

Arnold  not  promoted;  Hamilton  on  WanUngtou's  staff;  Stark  wronged 

Rivalry  between  Schuyler  and  Oatc8      .        . 

Kortciuszko  employed  in  the  northern  army  . 

Schuyler  answers  for  Ticonderoga 

Expedition  to  Danbury.    Courage  of  Wooster, 

Retreat  of  .he  British  .... 

Meigs  at  Sag  I  arbor.    Vengeful  orders*  of  Germain 

Washington  at  Middlebrook.     Howe  prepares  to  march  on  Philadelphia 

Wa-shington  {^eta  the  advantage  of  him         .        . 

The  British  evacuate  New  Jersey.    The  flag  of  the  United  States 

Capture  of  Prcscott  in  Rhode  Island     . 


Of  Arnold 


CHAPTER  Xir. 

TOB   ADVANCE   OF   BCROOYNE   FROM   CANADA. 

May-Augnst  1777. 
The  winter  in  C     .da.    Brant  and  the  Mohawks  . 

Vermont  declares  independence.    Schuyler  at  Ticondero^a    *        '        " 
Burgoyne  at  Quebec °  '        ' 

Diversion  by  way  of  Lake  Ontario".    Lurgoyne  meets  a'cong^css  of  Indians 

II.S  conduct  condemned  by  Burke,  Fox,  and  Chatham.    Hi.  proclamation 

He  threatens  New  England.     Saint-CIair  escapes  from  Ticonderoga 

Vermont  in  convention  frames  for  itself  a  constitution  . 

Slavery  forbidden.    The  fight  at  Hubbardton        .        .        "        '        " 

Heroic  conduct  and  death  of  Francis.     Error  of  Carleton 

Burgoyne  mistakes  his  way  ...  *        '        " 

Jane  Maecrca  and  her  ass.ssin.    Conduct  of'  Schuyler. '  Success  o'f  Clinton 

bchuyler  retreats.    Condition  of  the  state  of  New  York 

Watchfulness  and  interposition  of  Washington 

Schuyler  desponds.    Saint-Leger  sent  against  Fort  Stan wix   " 

Rising  of  Herkimer  and  the  German  freeholders  of  the  Mohawk  valley 

Their  cc,nfliet  with  a  British  party.    Sally  of  Willctt  from  Fort  Stanwix 

Advance  of  Arnold  and  flight  of  Indians  and  Saint-Leger 

Honors  to  Herkimer.    Bui  lyne  and  his  Indians  ."...' 

Burgoyne  sends  German  regiments  to  the  East      ..'"'" 

Stark  and  New  Hampshire  men  rout  them  near  Bennington. '  A  sccond'fi-ht" 

hchuyler  relieved.     Appointrnent  of  Gates  to  succeed  him 

Schuyler's  ingenuousness 


Congress  lavishes  favors  on  Gates 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PR0GKES8  OF   8IE   WILLIAM   HOWF   AND  BUEGOTNK. 

July-October  20,  1777. 
The  poli-v  of  congref  ■     Arrival  of  Kalb  and  Lafavette 
Howe  embarks  for  Philadelphia  by  way  of  the  Chesapeake    . 


PAfll 

.  146 
.  147 
.  147 
.  148 
.  149 
.  160 
.  160 
.  161 
.  161 
.  162 
.  158 
.  163 
.  104 
.  IDS 


.  166 

.  157 
.  157 
.  168 
.  159 
.  100 
.  Irtl 
.  162 
.  lt>3 
.  163 
.  164 
.  166 
.  166 
,  167 
168 
169 
170 
170 
171 
172 
173 
173 


174 
17f 


J^^ 


.  146 
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.  147 
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.  140 
.  160 
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.  161 
.  161 
.  162 
.  158 
.  163 
.  154 
.  166 


CONTENTS. 

Strenffth  of  his  army    . 

Washington  prep   -es  to  dispute  the  passage 'of  th'  Bru'ndywuxe 

Sullivan  disconcerts  his  p!an  of  attack 

[rr^  '!"'  .^""'■''*"  ''^^' ''''"-    ^''"•^'  «"''°"°t"  and  retreat 
Washington's  army  at  Chester.    Results  of  the  day 

The  American  army  t .o  feeb.e  to  stop  the  advance  of  the  British 

Uowe  crosses  the  Schuylkill.     The  British  take  Philad  I,  hfa 

Charge  of  Chief.Just.ee  Jay.     Gates  at  StilHatcr 

Burgoyne  crosses  the  Hudson 

^r:?^^^Zr'-°^->"^^^"-^-eos: 

Small  losses  of  the  Ame-icans.  Loss  of  the  British  " 
A  diversion  of  Sir  Henry.  Clinton  on  Hudson  river  '. 
-/I '.stakes  of  Putnam      ... 

Capture  of  Forts  Clinton  and  Montgome'ry.    "ihe  wav  onon  f.  aik 
Burgoyne  aolds  a  council  of  war.  and  offers  battle    '    '  ''"'^ 

Defeat  and  flight  of  the  British.     Good  conduct  of  Brooks 
Breymann's  camp  taken.    Death  and  burial  of  Frascr 
Retreat  of  Purgoyne      .        .  lirascr. 

Burgoyne  mvested.     His  capitulation    .        "        "        ' 
Amount  of  his  losses.    Daniel  Morgan  . 


FAOI 

.  178 
.  176 
.  177 
.  178 
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.  180 
.  181 
.  182 
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.  183 
.  188 
.  184 
.  18« 
.  185 
.  186 
.  187 
.  188 
.  189 
.  189 
.  190 
.  191 


The  results 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THK   OOKXESX   FOH  THE  Z>E.AWAKE  BIVEK.      TH.   CO.PEDEKATIO.. 

September-November  1777. 
Defences  of  the  Delaware  ri  -    .     British  camp  at  Germantown 
Washington  attacks  the  British  by  surprise  ^•^™'»'it°«^n 

The  day  lost  by  the  failure  of  Greene    .  '        '        ' 

The  British  need  to  open  the  Delaware  river  "        '        "        * 
Red-bank  and  Mud  Island  '        "        '        * 

Ho":  iiZs'^Tjfi'  ^'^'■'"'- ''''  ""^^'^ -^  ^'^f-t. 

aowe  resigns.    Gates  and  congress  fail  in  duty 

biege  and  evacuation  of  Mud  Island  j     ■        .        . 

The  want  of  a  general  government  keenly  felt       '        '        ' 

When  the  consent  of  two  thirds  is  required  ^ 

Congress  can  levy  neither  taxes  nor  duties    "        "        *        ' 

III  p2::r  ''''-'■    '-^  '--'  -  -^^-^-  of  com.  .ce 

rights  of  man.    Dangeis  hanging  over  the  United  States 


.  192 
.  193 
.  194 
.  195 
.  195 
.  196 
.  197 
.  198 
.  199 
.  200 
.  201 
202 
202 
203 
203 
204 
204 
20S 
206 
:^07. 
208 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THK  WINTER   AT   VALLEY  FOBGK.      BRITAIN   IN   WANT  OF   TH00P8. 

November  1777  to  April  1778. 
Washington  at  Whitemarsh.    First  advance  of  Howe.    Its  failure 
H.S  second  advance,    lie  still  fears  to  attack.    Returns  to  Philadelphia        ' 
Ihe  Conway  cabal  to  supersede  Washington  by  Gates 

Conway  and  Mifflin •        .        . 

From  a  sense  of  public  duty  Washington  does  not  "retire 

The  suffering  Americar  troops  build  huts  for  winter  at  VaJley  ForM 

Pennsylvania  opposes  Washington        ... 

Congress  neglects  the  army.    Kemonstrances"  of  Washington" 

Patrick  Henry  his  firm  friend.     Attempt  to  mislead  Lafayette 

Conduct  of  AVashington.     His  enemies  shrink  back  from  their  purpose 

The  committee  of  congress  in  camp.    Life  at  Valley  Forge.    In  Philadelphi 

\^  eakncss  m  congress.     More  paper  money.     How  to  recruit  the  army 

blaves  of  Khode  Island  emancipated  and  enlisted.     Defaulters 

Greene  quartermaster-genei'al 

Steuben  inspector-general      ... 

Conflict  of  opinion  between  congress  and  Washington 

Washington  on  standing  armies.     Unity  of  the  country" 

Burgoyne's  troops  detained.     Gist.     Heroism  of  Biddle 

Prince  of  Anhalt-Zerbst 


Meanness  of  the  landgrave  of  Hessc-Cassel  and  the  BrunswiJk  princes 

Muabeau  and  the  landgrave  of  Ilessc 

Chatham  on  the  use  of  Germans  and  savages 

Burke  and  Fos  after  Burgoyne's  surrender 

Lord  Amherst  on  the  conduct  of  the  war 

Lord  North's  penitence  in  his  old  age    ..        ..."        ' 


la 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  ASPECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EFROPE. 

i/75-1781. 


Austria,  Italy,  the  Turkish  empire .... 

Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark 

Switzerland.     The  republic  of  the  Netherlands      .' 

Germany.     Kant,  the  friend  of  the  rights  of  man  and  o"f  the'united  States 

Lossmg,  Herder,  and  Klopstock     .... 

Goethe 

Schiller.     The  ruler  of  Saxe-Gotha        .        .        " 

Charles  Augustus  of  Saxe- Weimar  and  his  ministers 

Frederic  the  Great,  king  of  Prussia 

His  reasoning  on  monarchy  and  republicanism 

He  condemns  the  British  government  as  despotic  . 

He  favors  commerce  between  Prussia  and  the  United  States 

His  friendly  reception  of  their  declaration  of  independence 


PAoa 

.  209 

.  210 
.  211 
.  212 
.  212 
.  213 
,  213 
214 
215 
216 
217 
218 
219 
219 
220 
220 
221 
2?2 
222 
223 
223 
224 
224 
225 
226 


.  226 
.  227 
.  228 
.  230 
.  231 
.  232 
.  233 
.  234 
.  236 
.  236 
.  237 
.  238 
.  239 


m 


PAoa 

.  209 

.  210 
.  211 
.  212 
.  212 
.  2IS 
.  213 
.  214 
.  215 
.  216 
.  217 
.  218 
.  219 
.  219 
,  220 
,  220 
,  221 
2?2 
222 
223 
223 
224 
224 
225 
226 


CONTENTS. 

Bi3  reproof  of  the  theft  of  Arthur  Lee's  papers 
His  encouragement  of  the  part  of  France  in  the  war 
The  United  States  find  a  friend  ia  Marie  Antoinette 
i  redenc  desires  their  complete  success . 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

FRANCE   AN)^   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

December  1777  to  April  1778. 
Vcrgennes  discusses  the  terms  of  a  treaty  with  the  United  States 
Louis  XVL  promises  them  aid  in  money  ' 

Conditions  of  tlie  treaties  between  France  and  the  United  States   " 
-  Mee  ing  o    Franklin  and  Voltaire.    Voltaire's  homage  to  L  f  "tt'e 
Lord  North's  conciliatory  bills       ...  ^'^'-.xyeue 

France  avows  her  treaties  with  America 

Will  protect  commerce  between  France  and  the  United  States       ' 

State  of  war  between  England  and  France.    Rockingham  on  independence 

cii.arrF:n— "^^^^^^^      ^-^^  ^^'^-  -^  -  ^^^"er 

His  friends  in  England ...  •        •         •        . 

Richmond  and  Chatham  speak  in  the  house  of  lords      '        " 

Sr^fhT  rT,V''' '"''•     "■^'^"--*--    Inhislas"tday"s 
lor  the  Lnited  States  nothing  short  of  independence  can  do 
A  French  fleet  carries  a  French  minister  to  the  United  States 
Franklin  and  Voltaire  at  the  French  Academy 
Freedom  of  mind  united  France  and  America  '        " 

Free  thought  in  France.  No  free  public  opinion  in  SnJin  ' 
Contrast  between  the  French  literature  and  the  Spanish  " 
Between  the  French  mind  and  the  Spanish  mind 


CHAPTER  xvni. 

THE   BRITISn   ABANDON   PENNSYLVANIA. 

May-Juno  1778. 
England  in  its  war  on  America  was  at  war  with  itself 
How  parliament  came  by  absolute  power 
The  old  whig  party  had  finished  its  work       .'        ] 
Chatham  and  the  new  whig  party.     State  of  France 
The  contest  of  oi)inions  in  the  French  cabinet 
Maurepas,  Vcrgennes,  Necker        .        .        .        '        ' 
The  light  literature  of  Franco.     Its  queen,  its  king,  itsfinancos 
The  pr.„c  pie  of  the  French  treaties.    Congress  ratifies  them 
farewell  festival  to  General  Howe 
His  march  to  capture  Lafayette,  who  escapes" 
Mistakes  of  Howe  as  a  general.     The  spirit  of  con-rrcs.^ 
Characters  of  the  British  commissioners.     Philaderphia  evacuated 


XI 

PAO> 

.  240 

.  241 

,  242 

24r 


.  244 
.  246 
.  246 

.  247 

.  247 
.  248 
.  248 
.  249 
.  250 
.  251 
.  253 
.  253 
.  254 
.  255 
.  256 

256 

257 

258 

2S9 

260 


.  261 
.  262 
.  266 
.  264 
.  266 
.  266 
.  2fr7 
.  268 
.  269 
.  270 
.  271 
.  272 


XII 


CONTENTS. 


It 


Congress  and  the  commissioners '27? 

Washington  pursues  the  British  army 
Treasonable  conduct  of  Charles  Lee 
Movements  of  Clinton, 


Washington  orders  Lee  to  the  rear 
Tlie  battle  of  llonraouth.    Congress  thank  Washington 
Black  Americans  in  the  battle.     Trial,  character,  and  death  of  Lee 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

AFTER   TUB    FEENCH   ALLIANCE. 

June-December  1778. 
Wyoming  Valley.    The  Senecas.    Butler      ... 
Defeat  of  the  men  of  Wyoming.     Trials  for  treason    .* 
The  British  and  the  American  mind  become  wonted  to  independence 

The  rising  cry  for  peace 

Congress  in  Philadelphia.    The  confederacy  signed  by  all  but  Maryland 
Arrival  of  D'Estaing  and  the  French  fleet     ..... 
Failure  of  the  plan  to  recover  Rhode  Island  .         .         "         * 

Lord  Howe  retires.    Result  of  the  campaign.     Opinion  of  Washington 

Condemned  in  both  houses  of  parliament 

Shelburne  opposes  independence  ....]"' 

Ravages  of  the  British,  the  tcries,  and  Indians 

The  constitution  of  South  Carolina.    Plan  to  conquer  Ih,  southern  staies    . 

State  of  Chnton  at  New  York.   Of  the  United  States  with  their  paper  money 

A  convention  of  New  England  states  and  New  York  condemn  pr.per  money 

Loan-office  certificates  paid  by  drafts  on  commissioners  at  Paris.  Trade  blighted 

Richard  Price  declines  to  superintend  American  finances       . 

Protection  of  France      ....  * 

Expenses  of  1778.    Germain  misled  by  "refugees    ."        ."        .'.'"" 

Clinton  courts  the  Irish  successfully      .         .  

I'lan  for  Canada.    Spirit  of  independence.     The  army  in  winter  qiiarters       '. 
Results  of  the  carapMign.    The  union  of  the  states  enfeebled 
Thirteen  sovereignties.     Washington  pleads  for  American  union   .' 


274 
216 

276 

277 
278 


.  279 

,  280 
,  281 
,  282 
283 
284 
286 
286 
287 
288 
288 
289 
290 
291 
292 
293 
293 
294 
295 
296 
297 
298 


CnAPTER  XX. 

THE   KING   OF   SPAIN   BAFFLED   BY   THE   BACKWOODSMEN   OF  VIEGINIA. 

1778-1779. 
Policy  of  Spain  toward  the  United  States      . 
Count  Montmorin.    Florida  Blanca  abhors  American  independence 
I  ol.cy  of  the  French  council.     Indecision  of  the  king  of  Spain 
J)  Orvilhers  and  Keppel.     Intrigues  of  Florida  Blanca  with  England 

i"  ranklin  in  Fr.ance 

France  and  Spain  agree  to  hold  the  United  States  in  check 

iaflrtf  ".t""'  "?r" '  °'  '"' '  °'  ''"«"'^""*'^-    ^P-^'"  demands  Gibraltar  .  306 
Lafayette  at  Versailles.     Dissimulation  of  Florida  Blanca     .        .        .        .806 


300 
801 
302 
303 
304 
304 


CONTENTS. 


xiu 


Spaia  refuses  to  acknowledge  the  United  States 

The  war  treaty  between  France  and  Spain  •        •        •        • 

Cool!!  R '''P'^'rr"'^  *°  ''''  ^°''^^  «^'^'^«"  b^  «'°  ba'ckwo;dsm;n 
George  Rogers  Clark  at  Kedstone.  Schemes  of  Hamilton  at  DetroU 
Kaskaskm  captured  by  Clark.    Gibault  and  Vincennes  . 

M^'h    ?r7'^^'°'''""'''-    H"  preparations  for  conqueJt       ." 
March  of  the  backwoodsmen  to  Vinconncs 

Hamilton  surrenders  the  fort  at  discretion 

Expedition  under  Evan  Shelby      .  •        •        .        . 

Emigration  flows  westward.    Fort  on  the  Mississippi.    Cap.'  oof  Natchez 
Vote  of  Virginia  in  honor  of  George  Rogers  Clark        .        .        . 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   TBEATY    BETWEEN  FKANOE   AND   BPAIK.      REFORMS   HT   yiROINIA 
^KOGKES^   OF  THE  WAB. 

1779. 

The  northern  campaign  defensive  . 

Condition  of  the  oificeri.    Of  the  rank  and  file      .*        *        ' 

Congress  fixes  the  number  of  batta'irms 

Washington's  appeal  to  George  Mason  for  a  central  governm'ent 

American  affairs  at  their  lowest  ebb.     Gerard  on  Washington 

Congress  refuses  to  conclude  peace  in  which  France  is  not  comprised 

Vergcnnes  expounds  the  law  of  nations  on  the  right  to  fisheries 

ReZt  TfT  """''"'■'  '°  P^''^"'^'^^  •^""^^^^^  '»  y'^'^  *°  Spain 
Report  of  the  committee  of  Congress  on  the  terms  of  peace  . 

Stn  e  about  the  fisheries.    New  York's  sole  condition  of  peace 
Chidings  of  the  French  minister    .        . 

Coiyress  solicits  further  supplies  from  Franco       *        '        " 
And  yields  on  the  fisheries    ...  '         ' 

French  minister  hints  to  end  the  war  by  a  triice     "        "        ' 

Spain  and  the  United  States.    Jay  elected  envov  to  Spain      * 

John  Adams  appointed  sole  negotiator  of  peace"and  commerce  with  En 

ongrcss  solicits  portraits  of  the  king  and  queen  of  France 

Inactivity  of  the  British  army.    Prosperity  of  the  Virginians" 

Matthew's  predatory  expedition     . 

Virginia  retaliates  on  her  pillagers.     The  new  code  of  Virginia 

Expedition  of  Clinton  up  the  Hudson     . 

Pillaging  expedition  of  Tryon  into  Connecticut      "        *        " 
Tryon  recalled  to  New  York .        ,  '        " 

Vlcory  of  Wayne  at  Stony  Point.'  Bold  expedition  of  Henr;  Lee 
Expedition  agamst  the  Senecas  under  Sullivan 

Van  Schniek  and  Willot  among  the  Onondagas      '        "        ' 
Message  of  Little  David  to  Haldimand  .  '         "         " 

Expedition  from  Massachusetts  to  Castino     .  '        ' 

Results  of  the  campaign.     Descriptions  and  propheoios  of  Po^^au" 
European  influence  on  the  war      .        .        "^    '        -   "^^°'^n«'i" 


FAOS 

.  307 
.  308 
.  309 
.  310 
.  311 
.  312 
.  313 
.  314 
.  314 
.  315 
.  316 


.  fill 
.  317 
.  818 

.  318 
.  319 
.  320 
.  821 
.  321 
.  322 
.  323 
.  823 
.  324 
.  326 
.  326 
.  326 
igland.  327 
.  327 
.  327 
.  327 
.  328 
.  329 
.  329 
.  330 
.  331 
.  332 
.  332 
.  333 
.  333 

.  OO'i 

,  336 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

AMEBIOA   IN  KUEOPE.      THE  ARMED  NEUTRAUTT. 

1778-1780. 
Frederic  of  Prussia  puts  asida  Lee's  importi-nities 
Austria  and  Russia  desire  to  mediate.    Spam  declares  war  on  England  " 
Firmness  of  the  English        .         .  J^ufeianu . 

Interview  between  George  Ili.  and  his  ministers.  "  Remarks  'of  th^  kin^ 
U  eless  junction  of  French  and  Spanish  fleets  for  the  invasion  of  EnSnd 
\  ergennes  and  Florida  Blanca  send  agents  to  Ireland 
Rights  of  neutrals.    Policy  of  Russia    ..."        * 
How  Russia  would  treat  America  ,        .        '        '        *        ' 
Proposal  of  a  treaty  of  commerce  between  America  and  the  Netherlands 
France  protects  the  rights  of  neutrals   .        .  ^  i  cmeriands 

The  states-general  refuse  to  treat  with  the  United  State's 
British  cruisers  violate  neutral  rights 

Vcrgennes  suggests  a  league  of  neutral  nations     '. 
Denmark  and  Sweden  agree  ... 

The  neutral  powers  look  to  Russia  for  protection  . 

Russia  rebukes  the  conduct  of  the  British 

Russia  and  Prussia  wish  England  should  lose  her  colonies 

Differences  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Netherlands 

Paul  Jones  enters  a  Dutch  harbor  with  his  prizes 

Policy  of  Denmark.    George  III.  offers  Russia  an  alliance 

Dutch  merchant  fleet  fired  on  by  the  English 

Offended  by  Spain,  Russia  asserts  neutral  rights  in  every  sea 

Spain  IS  advised  to  make  reparation  to  Russia 

The  empress  of  Russia  signs  a  declaration  of  neutral  ri-hts  " 

She  invites  Sweden,  Denmark,  Portugal,    ud  the  Netherlands  to  join  it" 

Adams  applauds  and  reports  the  act  of  the  United  States 


PAQB 
.    337 

.  338 
.  338 
.  339 
.340 
.  8*1 
.  342 
.  348 
.  844 
.  844 
.  346 
.  346 
.  346 
.  346 
,  847 
,  348 
849 
860 
850 
851 
862 
863 
364 
865 
356 
356 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GREAT  BEITAIX  MAKES   WAR  ON  THE   NETOERLANDS. 

1V80-1781. 
Weymouth  succeeded  by  Stomiont.    Mariott  on  the  ri" 
Spain,  France,  and  the  United  States  approve  the  pr 

neutrality       .... 
Answer  of  England       .        .        .        .        ' 
The  Netherlands  design  to  join  the  armed  neutrality 
The  British  cabinet  determined  on  war  with  the  Netherj 
Stormont  inquires  where  to  strike  the  Dutch  with  profit 
He  prepares  for  the  capture  of  St.  Eustatius  . 
Stormont  makes  of  the  Dutch  impossible  demands 
St.  Eustatius  captured  . 
Immense  pillage  in  South  Africa ;  in  Ceylon  .'        [ 


dits  of  neutrals 

.  367 

•inciples  of  the  armed 

• 

.  368 

• 

.  869 

• 

.  860 

lands 

•        •        • 

.  861 
.  862 
.  863 
.  864 
.  8G4 
.  305 

.  888 
.  388 

.  889 
.840 
.  8«1 
.  342 
.  348 
.  844 
.  844 
.  846 
.  346 
.  346 
.  346 
.  847 
.  848 
.  849 
,  860 
,  850 
861 
362 
363 
364 
365 
856 
866 


CONTE^lTS. 
CHAPTER  2XIV. 

THE  WAR  m  THE  BOtlTn.      CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN. 

1778-1780. 
The  American  war  transferred  to  the  southern  states 
Capture  of  Savannah.    Lincoln  takes  the  command  in  the  south 
Movements  m  North  and  South  Carolina 
Charleston  in  danger     . 
Shall  negroes  be  armed  ? 
The  proposal  for  neutrality  defeated 
D'Estaing  and  the  French  fleet 
The  attempt  to  take  Savannah  by  storm  fails 
Negroes  not  yet  freed  but  sold  in  the  West  Indies 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  repairs  to  South  Carolina  . 
The  siege  of  Charleston 
Lincoln  signs  a  capitulation  . 
The  spoliation  of  South  Carolina 
Clinton  compels  South  Carolina  to  persevere  for  independence 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   WAB  IN  THE  SOUTH.      CORNWALLIS  AND  GATES. 

1780. 
Rivalry  between  Comwallis  and  Clinton 
Comwallis  takes  command  in  the  South 
He  makes  the  reconciliation  of  South  Carolina  impossible 

LTetflur'^M      "^!'"«:°^P-^'-«-    «-teat!:e;ploit;        . 
He  aims  at  Camden.    Junction  whhPreS'    ^'^  ^''•^"- ^--^ress 


XV 


PAQB 

.  366 
.  867 
.  868 
.  809 
.  370 
.  871 
.  372 
.  873 
.  874 
.  375 
.  376 
.  377 
.  378 
379 


His  disposition  for  battle 
His  defeat  and  rout 


380 
380 
381 
382 
383 
384 
885 


H.':  "SL":rr '"""  -^  ^^'^^-^  -• »» »'.'..  »"ch:  z 


887 
.  388 
.  389 
.  890 


CHAPiER   XXVI. 


THE   WAE  IN  THE  SOUTH.      CO«NWALUS    AND   THE  PEOPLE    OF    THE 

SOUTH-WEST. 


1780. 
Cornwallis  introduces  a  rci^  of  terror  in  South  Carolina 
The  capitulation  of  Charleston  violated.            .  ^"°'"«»      •        • 
Kesoluteness  of  Ga(l«f?on      n*i,  ^ 


.  891 
.  392 
.  893 
.  894 
.  890 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


i 


!     , 

■    f 

i 


Corawallis  sequesters  even  debts  due  to  patriots    .... 

Events  in  Georgia.    Cornwullis  arrives  at  Ciiarlottc 

One  half  the  adults  west  of  the  mountains  ride  over  the  Alleghanies 

They  choose  Campbell  their  commandant 

Cornwallis  sends  Tavleton  to  assist  Ferguson  at  King's  Mountain  . 
The  American  line  of  attack  march  upward  and  take  the  mountain 
Loss  of  the  British.     Of  the  Americans.     Results  of  the  victory    . 
Retreat  of  Cornwallis.     The  victories  and  clemency  of  Marion 
Tarleton's  inhumanity.     lie  moves  against  Sumter 
Sumter  defeats  him.    Cornwallis  is  driven  back    .... 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

TRK   RISK   OP   FEKE   COMMONWEALTHS. 

1780. 
Antiquity  of  freedom.     The  abolition  of  villeinage         .... 
The  British  king  and  parliament  protect  the  slave-trade 
Slavery  divides  the  southern  states  from  the  North.    Gouverneur  Morris 
Antagonism  of  Virginia  and  New  England     . 
The  balance  of  power  between  North  and  South    . 
The  semi-tropical  states  are  the  stronghold  of  slavery 
"Virginia  permits  emancipation  and  resists  abolition 
Slavery  in  Delaware,  New  York,  Vermont,  New  Jersey . 
Pennsylvania  divests  the  state  of  slaves 
Slavery  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.    In  Massachusetts    . 
Massachusetts  formed  a  constitution  disfranchising  colored  men    . 

The  constitution  rejected 

Draft  of  the  new  constitution  of  Massachusetts 

It  proposes  a  free  commonwealth 

How  Massachusett:  rid  itself  of  slavery 

Decision  of  its  supreme  judicial  court 

Decision  of  its  juries 

The  rights  of  conscience  in  Massachusetts.    Its  proposed  dismemberment 
The  Methodists  and  slave-keeping 


PAoa 
.  Hdi 

.  890 

.  397 

.  397 

.  898 

.  399 

.  400 

.  401 

.  402 

.  403 


,  404 
,  406 
,  406 
,  407 
408 
409 
410 
411 
412 
413 
114 
416 
416 
417 
418 
419 
420 
421 
422 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

THE   OOMPLOT   OF   SIR   HENRY   CLINTON   AND   ARNOLD. 

1780. 

The  British  and  American  armies  in  1780     . 

Movements  of  the  British  in  New  Jersey 

Clinton  gives  up  offensive  operations     . 

Occupation  of  Newport  by  the  French    . 

Clinton  relics  for  success  solely  on  corruption 

Andr6  sent  to  bargain  with  Arnold 

The  career  of  George  Rodney 

Rodney  at  New  York  prepares  to  go  against  West  Point 


423 
424 
425 
426 
427 
428 
429 
430 


union . 


CONTENTS. 

Andr6  consummates  the  bargain  with  Arnold 

West  Point  and  its  fortifications    . 

-irrest  of  Andre  on  his  return  to  New  York- 
Escape  of  Arnold  from  West  Point 
Andr6  convicted  and  sentenced  as  a  spy 

His  execution 

The  rewards  of  Arnold.    The  humiliation  of  Clinton 
The  reward  of  Andre's  captors      .... 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

8TBIVING   FOE  UNION. 

1779-1781. 
The  ficances  of  congress.     Its  papei-  money  . 
Vergennes  prefers  America  should  not  consolidate  its 
Tendencies  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  to  separation 
New  York  makes  sacrifices  for  union 
The  hopeless  financial  system  of  congress 
The  rising  demand  for  an  efficient  government 
The  criticism  and  judgment  of  Washington 
United  States  deposit  money  in  a  bank . 

The  spirit  of  the  act  of  Pennsylvania.    The  spirit  "of  New  En-land 
Reform  in  the  quartermaster's  department    .         .         .         ° 
A  convention  of  states  at  Boston  propose"  to  invest"  congress 
power ^ 

Hamilton  pleads  for  a  vigorous  confederation  and  oflScers  of  "state 

Washington's  appeal  to  George  Mason  ... 

Vain  efforts  pf  congress  for  reform  and  revenue 

Mutiny  in  the  army        .... 

A  special  appeal  to  France  for  relief     . 

For  union's  sake  Virginia  surrenders  lands  to  congress 

The  confederation  and  perpetual  union  .        .       ° 

Defects  of  the  confederation 

Earnest  appeal  of  Washington  to  Virginia  statesmen 
Madison  conforms  to  the  advice  of  Washington 
Scanty  provision  for  the  campaign  of  1781 ". 


with 


xvii 

PAOI 

.  481 
.  482 
.  433 
.  434 
.  48S 
.  486 
.  487 
,  488 


more 


.  489 
.  440 
.  441 
442 
442 
443 
444 
445 
445 
446 

,  447 
,  448 
449 
450 
451 
452 
453 
454 
465 
4r3 
457 
458 


r.-TUE  PEOPLE  OF  AMERICA   TAKE  TnEIR  EQUAL  STATION  AMOm  TUE 
POWERS  OF  THE  EARTH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

FRANCE  HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE. 

1780-1781. 

Prance  needs  peace.     Discontent  of  Spain 

Disaifoction  in  the  Spanish  colonies 

VOL.  V. — 2  


.  461 
.  462 


11 


XVIU 


CONTENTS. 


i!I       .( 


John  Adams  as  sole  negotiator  of  peace 

John  Adams  at  Paris  in  strife  with  Vergennes 

Eagerness  for  peace  at  Paris 

Clandestine  negotiations  of  Xeckcr 

The  new  appeal  of  America  to  France  for  money 

The  fall  of  Neclccr.     Raynal's  history    . 

Austria  in  vain  offers  to  mediate 

Progress  of  the  campaign      -        .        . 

Congress  yields  to  Franco  its  instructions  for  peace 

A  new  peace  commission  of  five  members 

The  new  ultimatum  of  America  for  peace 

The  emancipation  of  the  commerce  of  Ireland 

CHAPTER  11. 


PAOB 

.  463 

.  404 

.  468 

.  467 

.  468 

.  469 

470 

471 

472 

473 

474 

475 


THE   SOCTHEBN   CAMPAIGN       THB-   sppao.-,^ 

JiiAiu.M.      THE   SEPARATE   COMMAND   OF   MORGAN. 


1780-1781. 

Daniel  Morgan  returns  to  active  service 

He  obtains  a  separate  command  and  the  rank  of  bri>'adier 

Greene  assumes  the  command  at  the  South 

The  British  conduct  the  war  with  barbarous  cruelty 

Cornwallis  sends  Tarleton  against  Morgan 
Morgan  prepares  for  battle 

His  victory  over  Tarleton  at  the  Cowpens 

Important  consequences  of  the  victory 

Honors  awarded  to  Daniel  Morgan  and  others 

Cornwallis  begins  a  forced  march  to  the  Chesapeake 

Ihe  Moravian  settlement  of  Salem 

Ruined  health  drives  Morgan  into  retirement."    Hi;  public  services 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SOUXnEHN   CAMPAIGN   OF  GREENE. 

February-September  1?81. 

Greene  collects  his  forces      . 

Masterly  retreat  before  Cornwallis         '. 

Greene  receives  reinforcements 

He  oflfers  battle  near  Guilford  court-house 

The  events  of  the  battle        .        .  "        ' 

Greene  retires  before  the  British  .        ,"        '        " 

The  magnanimous  conduct  of  Virginia  ' 
Cornwallis  pursued  by  Greene,  retreats  to  WHuungton' 
hox  m  the  house  of  commons  speaks  for  peace 
Speech  of  William  Pitt  on  the  character  of  the  war 
Comwalhs  abandons  North  Carolina  for  the  Chesapeake 
Greene  carries  the  wav  into  South  Carolina 


.  476 
.  477 
.  478 
.  479 
.  480 
.  482 
.  483 
.  484 
,  48S 
.  486 
487 
487 


.  489 
.  490 
.  491 
.  492 
.  493 
.  494 
.  494 
.  496 
.  495 
.  496 
,  497 
,  497 


f^^^- 


PAOB 

.  468 

.  404 

.  466 

.  467 

.  468 

.  469 

470 

471 

472 

473 

474 

475 


)RGj1N. 


.  476 
.  477 
.  478 
.  479 

.  480 
.  482 
483 
484 
485 
486 
487 
487 


.  489 
.  490 
.  491 
.  492 
.  493 
.  494 
.  494 
.  496 
.  495 
.  496 
.  497 
.  497 


CONTENTS. 

He  occupies  Hobkirk's  Hill,  near  Camden 

Is  attacked  and  defeated  by  Rawdon 

Marion  and  Lee  capture  the  fort  on  Wri-ht's  bluff 

Camden  Fort  Mott  Fort  Granby,  and  Augusta  occupied  by  the  Americ; 
iintish  garrison  withdrawn  from  Ninety-Six  -"nenca. 

Death  of  Isaac  Ilayne  ...  '        '         * 

The  Battle  at  Eutaw  Springs  .'.'**'" 

The  British  retreat  to  Chadcston  ,*       .'        ."        ,'        '        ' 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE   AMERIOAIT   WAH. 

1781. 
Arnold  invades  Virginia  and  burns  Richmond 
"^  Lafayette  marches  into  Virginia    .  '        "         ' 

Preparations  to  meet  Cornwallis  in  Virginia  "         '        "        * 

W  of  ?he  ""T"  '"'"  '"  "''  '^''''''  «--^'  government 
±-xtcnt  of  the  military  powers  of  Washington 

Cornwallis  sends  out  two  expeditions  •        •         . 

^  Condue?orT'  '/'"''"'"  °*^'"^  ^'"^^•'°  ""'l'  ^°™-alIi"s       ." 
Conduct  of  Lafavette  in  Virginia 

Clinton  loses  the  favor  of  Lord  George  Germain  .'        '        ' 

SaTo?  Tv  "'^^"'■•^'°-  -  '^^  P03t  to  be  occupied'        .' 

^arch  of  the  joint  army  to  the  southward 

^ate  of  the  naval  forces  of  Great  Britain.     Victory  of  De  Grasse 

Washmgton  secures  the  co-operation  of  De  Grasse 

Hap.d  advance  of  the  siege  of  Yorktown 

ill  French""  """'  T  "'^'^'''  '■^''°"^'  °f  '^'^^'^^^ 
Ihe  French  carry  another.     The  second  parallel    . 

Cornwalhs  surrenders  his  army  as  prisoners  of  war       * 

CHAPTER  V. 

BEITAIX   18    WEARY   OF   WAR   WITH  AMERICA. 

January-June  1782. 
Livingston  sends  instructions  on  the  conditions  for  peace 
Answer  of  Franklin.     Report  of  Madison  ^  " 

Long  debate"  and  final  vote  of  congress  on  the  terms  of  pea^e 

Tl     D."t.l        r""*  °'  ''°'"  ^^'^^  '"  ^''<^  Netherlands 

T Ic  Du  ch  republic  recognises  American  independence  " 

Gieat  change  in  the  condition  and  policy  of  Britain 

The  house  of  commons  decides  against  con-inui  gthe  '..■    " 

l^em.n„try  of  Lord  North  retires.     Its  character 

State  of  parties  In  Great  Britain  .  '        ' 


.ns 


xix 

PA9I 

.  498 

.  499 

.  499 

,  600 

601 

602 

603 

604 


.  605 
.  506 
.  o07 
.  508 
.  609 
.  610 
.  511 
.  512 
.  613 
.  514 
.  516 
.  616 
.  617 
.  518 
.  519 
.  620 
.  621 
.  622 
.  523 
.  624 


.  625 
.  626 
,  527 
627 
628 
629 
530 
681 
682 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


hi 


n 


Rockingham  and  his  friends  accept  power 

Franklin  initiatus  a  negotiation  for  peace      ....'.' 

Slielhurnc  forwards  the  niovcmunt  for  a  negdtiatio'n  for'  peace 

Feebleness  and  fears  of  Spain 

Fox  begins  a  (piarrel  with  Lord  Sholburnc    ...'.'.' 

Franklin  conceals  iiis  negotiation  with  Oswald  for  peace 

Oswald  bears  to  Franklin  a  letter  of  .Shelburne  ai.prove.l  by  "the  king  ." 

franklin  presents  (irenville  to  Vergennes 

Franklin  persuades  Shelbnrne  and  tl,e  king  to  let  Oswald  negotiate  with  hira" 

Ihe  naval  victory  of  Hodney  in  the  West  Indies 

Grenville  meets  with  no  success    .... 

Death  of  Rockingham.    Ireland  recovers  an  "independent  parliament 

I  irst  division  on  reform        .... 

Fox  accepts  the  declaration  of  the  rights  of  neutrals 

CHAPTER   VI. 

SnELBDRNE   STRIVES    ST-CERELY    FOR   PEACH. 

July-August  1782. 
Shelburne  becomes  first  lord  of  the  treasury 
William  Pitt  enters  the  ministry.     War  of  Fox  on  Shel'bume 
Franklin  explains  to  Oswald  the  American  conditions  of  peace      '. 
The  American  peace  to  be  made  by  a  separate  coiumissioji 
Shelburne  accepts  all  the  demands  of  Franklin 
Oswald's  commission  conforms  to  the  enabling  act  of  parliament 
How  Oswald's  commission  was  received  by  Franklin  and  Jay 
Opinion  of  John  Adams.     Jay's  cavils  with  the  commission  [ 

Vigilance  of  Franklin  to  counteract  the  intrigues  of  Spain    .         '. 
Sufferings  in  Xorth  Carolina  .... 

The  hi.manc  conduct  of  the  British  when  Shelburne  became  "minister 

Charter  of  a  national  bank 

The  financial  policy  of  Morris       .... 

An  officer  invites  Washington  to  become  king.     Uis  answer  " 

Hamilton,  Schuyler,  and  the  vote  of  Xew  York  for  a  general  convention 

Morris  proposes  a  duty  of  five  i-or  cent  on  imports 

The  great  seal  of  the  United  States.    Their  need  of  peace    '.        '. 


PACB 

.  5ba 

.  634 
.  535 
.  630 
.  636 

.  C37 
,  638 
639 
640 
641 
642 
643 
614 
644 


.  646 
.  546 
.  547 
.  548 
.  549 
.  650 
.  551 
.  552 
.  563 
.  554 
.   555 
.  656 
.  557 
.  668 
.  559 
.  5(>0 
.  661 


CHAPTER   VII. 


PEACE   BETWEEN   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERIPA    AND    GREAT   BRITAIN. 

From  September  first  to  the  end  of  November  1782. 

France  needs  poaco- 

Vorgennes  willing  to  repress  the  United  States      . 
Britain  offers  the  United  States  peace  on  their  own  terms 

Jay  refuses  the  offer 

Vergennes  opens  direct  negotiations  with  Shelburne 

Shelburne  desires  for  England  peace,  friendship,  and  commerce  with  France 


562 
663 
563 

664 
565 
566 


ith 


hira 


PAca 

.  5ba 

.  034 
.  630 
.  030 
.  686 

037 
638 
039 
040 
041 
042 
643 
014 
544 


.  545 
.  546 

.  547 

.  648 

.  549 

.  550 

.  551 

,  552 

,  553 

554 

555 

556 

657 

558 

559 

5C.0 

661 


CONTENTS. 

Jay  capitulates,  and  attempts  to  negotiate  directly  with  Shclbume 

IIow  the  letters  sent  by  Oswald  and  by  IVanklin  were  reeeivcd 

England  grants  a  trivial  change  in  the  commission 

Jay  repels  the  approaches  of  Aranda 

The  now  negotiation     •        .        .        .        '        ' 

The  Spaniards  fail  to  take  Gibraltar      .         [ 

The  Unite.!  Stat.s  importune  the  French  king  thro'ugh  r.aaklin  fo'r  a  loan 

Vergenncs  explains  to  Luzerne  his  policy  for  America 

Trogress  of  the  peace  negotiation 

John  Adams  makes  concessions  in  behalf  of"  British  creditors 

He  establishes  the  true  boundary  on  the  nortli-rust 

The  British  minisfy  fix  the  north-west  boundary  of  theUnit'ed  States 

Vergennes  on  the  American  claim  to  the  fisheries  and  boundaries 

John  u"      r-"  1  '"  "■""''"'  "^'^  «'="  ^  *-"*y  °f  peace 
John  Adams  claims  the  right  of  fishing  near  the  coast  . 

Clause  m  the  treaty  forbids  carrying  away  slaves  . 

Merits  of  Franklin  in  the  negotiation    .         .         "        *         ' 

The  prospect  before  the  United  States  •        •        •        ■ 

*       •      •      •      • 


xxi 

PAnr. 
.  567 

.  060 
.  069 
.  070 
.  070 
.  672 
.  572 
.  672 
.  673 
.  074 
.  076 
.  076 
.  677 
.  678 
.  079 
.  079 
.  080 
.  080 


BRITAIN. 


.  562 
.  0G3 
.  563 
.  564 
.  505 
ance  566 


THE 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTIO 


N 


AV  FIVE  EPOCHS. 


EPOCH  FOURTH. 

AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITO  FRANCE. 

Fiioir  177G  to  1780. 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH 
FEANCE. 


CIIArTER  I. 

CA^   THE  THIETEEN   U^rrED   STATES   MAINTAIN  INDEPENBENCE  ? 

July-August  1776. 

^  The  American  declaration  of  independence  was  tlie  be<nn- 
mng  of  new  ages  It  disembarrassed  the  people  of  the  Um^ted 
States  rom  the  egal  fiction  of  allegiance  to  a  king  against 
whon.  they  werem  arms,  and  set  before  them  a  well-definS 
Bingle,  and  mspinng  purpose.  It  changed  the  contest  from  a 
..ar  for  the  redress  of  grievances  to  the  creation  of  a  self-irov- 
ernmg  commonwealth.     Hope  whispered  the  assurance  of  un- 

1:.  tht^^'o?:;;:'^  ^"""^  ^'  ^^^^'"^  ^-^^^^^-^^^^  ^^-^^^^  ^^«^ 

Before  receiving  the  declaration,  the  convention  of  Mary- 
and,  on  vhe  sixth  of  July,  yielded  to  "the  dire  necessity"  of 
renouncing  the  king  who  had  violated  his  compact,  and ''con 

f:::^:r^^rf'''^  toJoincordiaHy  ^  LntaiigTe 
liceclom  of  Maryland  and  her  sister  colonies  " 

Miicic  the  declaration  was  read  to  the  battahons  of  volunteers 
and  a  concourse  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  11^ 

It^f'rei  r'r^T  "^^^  '"™*  ^^^  -i-- 

chimed  u    ]      "Tf'  ''"    ^'''^'  *"""  '^''  ^*^*^-^^^^«  ^^'U  pro- 
claimed    liberty  throughout  the  land  " 

With  the  certainty  of  immediate  v       the  congress  of  Now 
Jersey,  m  presence  of  the  committee  of  safety,  the  mi^ia  imT 


't    ?; 


'\  .  ■• 


4  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.joh.i. 

der  arms,  and  a  great  assembly  of  the  people  at  Trenton,  pub- 
lished simultaneously  the  declaration  of  independence  and  their 
own  new  constitution. 

On  the  morning  of  the  ninth,  the  newly  elected  convention 
of  J^ew  York,  invested  with  full  powers  from  the  people,  as- 
sembled at  White  Plains,  chose  as  president  Nathaniel  Wood- 
hull  of  Suffolk  county,  a  man  of  courage  and  discriminating 
mind,  and  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence.    In  the  afternoon  tliey  met  again,  thirty-ei.>-ht  in 
number,  among  whom  were  Woodhull,  Jay,  Yan  Cortlindt 
Lew^  Morris,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Gansevoort,  Sloss  Hobart' 
the  Presbyterian  minister  Keteltas,  and  other  representatives  of 
^  ithe  Dutch,  English,  and  Huguenot  elements  of  the  state     If 
^^  /    Resistance  to  the  end  should  be  chosen,  Lewis  Morris  must  aban- 
^  ,y  /      :,r   if  If'^^  '''^''*^  *°  *^'  unsparing  ravages  of  the  enemy: 
-^'^  /^     '  Woodhull  could  not  hope  to  save  his  constituents  from  imnie- 
^diate  subjection  ;  Jay  must  prepare  to  see  his  aged  father  and 
^mother  driven  from  their  home  at  Eye,  to  pine  away  and  die 
/as  wanderers;   the  men  from  the  western  part  of  the  state 
(  knew  that  their  vote  would  let  loose  the  Indian  with  his  scalp- 
,  mg-kmfe  along  their  border.     But  they  trusted  in  the  uncon- 
Uuerable  spirit  of  those  by  whom  they  had  been  elected      The 
leading  part  feE  to  Jay.     On  his  report,  the  convention  with 
one  voice,  while  they  lamented  the  cruel  necessity  for  "iade- 
pendence,  approved  it,  and  joined  in  supporting  it  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives  and  fortunes."     They  directed  it  to  be  published 
with  the  beat  of  drum  at  White  Plains,  and  in  every  district 
ot  the  state ;  empowered  their  delegates  in  congress  to  act  for 
the  happmess  and  the  welfare  o:  the  United  St-tes  of  America- 
and  named  themselves  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the 
state  of  New  York.    By  this  decree  the  union  of  the  thirteen 
colonies  was  consummated;  New  York,  long  with  t'o  cup  of 
misery  at  her  lips,  ever  remained  true  to  her  pledge. 

In  announcing  independence,  the  commanda--iii-ohief  as- 
serted for  the  colonists  "the  rights  of  humanity."  The  dec- 
laration was  read  on  the  ninth  to  every  brigade  *in  New  York 
city,_and  received  with  the  most  hearty  approbation.  In  the 
evemng  a  mob,  composed  in  part  of  soldiers,  threw  down  the 
leaden  equestrian  statue  of  George  III.  which  stood  in  the  Bowl- 


im.     CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAW  INDEPENDENCE,         5 
l°'gS™r„.rr"'  «fi-«W,.,..,gto.  and  w.  .^.ed 

drive:  t  tzfi:';  ;':r™'f  "^^  -^ "-''  ^~  ™ 

ttsmnl     nft  ^'f ,  'P™"^  "^  "'™''  ^^'-^  several  «f 

Saint.CIaird,out«  SntuI  ™'^"'"*'  "'°  '"'*™  ""^^^ 
.nd  have  „  „a.no  .„„„"  r^L  „f  m,  »  "Z  ff^' 

w,;p,:::',r'.*''™'  ""^*'' "-  '■^'='"-""  -  -*''  ™- 

S  aU     i   ;r  :r!^  a-u.  e„,di,.,„ed  a.  their  work t 

camp  and  ^"tl^JMa  X^f  ""'  '^"'"''"""''-  "'  "« 
-""u„  utia.     Ihe  report  wcut  out  among  all 


I    r 


'     I 

J 


:t 


,1.     .. 

1: 
il 


6 


6  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    EP.iv.jon.i. 

nations;  it  involved  the  reform  of  tlie  British  parliament,  the 
emancipation  of  Ireland,  the  overthrow  of  feudalism  in  France 
Ji-yen  Hungary  bent  forward  to  hear  the  glad  sound ;  and  Ital^ 
lans  and  (rermans  recalled  their  days  of  unity. 

The  arrow  had  sped  when  Lord  Howe  entered  upon  the 
scene  with  his  commission  for  restoring  ])eace.     As  a  naval 
officer  he  added  experience  and  skill  to  phlegmatic  courage 
mturaUy  taciturn,  his  manner  of  expressing  himself  was  con^ 
fused.     His  profile  resembled  that  of  his  grandfather,  George 
1. ;  his  complexion  was  very  dark ;  his  grim  features  had  no 
stamp  of  superiority ;  but  his  face  wore  an  expression  of  serene 
and  passive  fortitude.     As  unsuspicious  as  he  was  brave,  he 
sincerely  designed  to  act  as   a  mediator;  and   indulged  in 
visions  of  riding  about  the  country,  conversing  with  its  prin- 
cipal inhabitants,  and  restoring  the  king's  authority  by  methods 
of  moderation  and  concession.     At  Halifax  he  told  Admiral 
Arbuthnot- that  peace  would  be  made  within  ten  days  after 
his  amval."     \V  ith  a  simphcity  which  speaks  for  his  sincerity, 
he  had  not  discovered  how  completely  his  powers  were  circum^ 
scribed.     He  could  pardon  individuals  on  their  return  to  the 
kings  protection,  and  could  grant  an  amnesty  to  insurgent 
communities  which  should  lay  down  their  arms  and  dissolve 
their  governments      The  only  further  privilege  which  his  long 
altercation  wrung  from  the  ministry  was  a  vague  permission  to 

repor  their  opmions ;  but  he  could  not  promise  that  their 
complaints  ^ould  be  heeded;  and  he  was  strictly  forbidden  to 
treat  with  the  continental  congress,  or  any  provincial  congress, 
or  any  civil  or  mihtary  officer  holding  their  commission. 

T  1  A  *^'' r?'"f  °^  *^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^'d  ^^'^^e  ^-e-^ched  Staten 
Island.     His  brother,  who  had  impatiently  expected  him,  was 

IX'TT  f '*  "  ^^"^'"'"^  ^'"^y  '^  '^'^  inhabitants  of 
JNewYork,  the  Jerseys,  and  Connecticut  only  waited  for  op- 
portunities to  pro.^  their  loyalty;  but  that  peace  could  not 
be  restored  until  the  rebel  army  should  be  defeated."  Lord 
Howe,  while  at  sea,  had  signed  a  declaration  which  had  been 
sketched  by  Wedderburn  in  England,  and  which  did  but  an" 
nounce  his  authority  separately,  not  less  than  jointly  with  his 
brother,  to  grant  free  and  general  pardons,  and  promise  -du^ 


me.      OAK  m  STATES  MAINTAW  INDEPENDEKCE,  7 

co^,.t,-on  to  an  peso,  who  ahouM  aid  in  .storing  u^. 

On  the  second  day  after  hi.  anwal  he  sent  a  white  flat-  nn 
the  harbor  with  a  copy  of  his  declaration,  enclosld  in  ,  I  »  '^ 
addressed  to  Washington  as  a  private  man  Eeed  a^d  wJi  t' 
who  went  to  meet  the  messen<-er  following  tl  '' 

declined  to  receive  the  com™  5eaUo?  t"".' Tr'"™'™'' 

yJn  me  same  day  Lord  Howp  fiOTi+  n  a 

Amh^,  with  copief  of  histlrSn^i  I^Z ie^  tl  Jt"  n 
the  old  rojal  governors  south  of  New  YoT  jll  /" 

Those  which  he  ad  conceited  with  De  Berdt  son  of  tT!  u 
jut  of  Massachusetts,  to  Kii^ey  of  Newl L" and  to  Brd 
o  Pennsylvania,  were  public  in  tb.ir  nature,  tho.gh  private  n 
their  foi-m,  and  were  promptly  referred  by  their  ^cipiTte  o 
congress.    In  them  he  suffered  it  to  be  said   InMe  ^w 

thought  "  the  overture  ought  not  to  be  refected  • »  and  tl  f 
Robert  Morris  he  olfered  most  cheerfuHv  to  ll  '"'<' ''"^"g'' 
"on  the  eccion  as  his  situation  tdaS,::  woXdmit?-^ 

«ttle  injury,  aseenlH    t^'Zr'Tr  ^'*  ^"^ 

^rttrti-iri-5B= 

d««.™teg,„„„,    ButrgJswStrve r/'TS  ,■ 
Uowc,  •  reasoned  «am„el  Adams,  "comes  with  Sdisg^f  '" 


:^li 


i    II 


1 


w 


8  AMERICA  IN"  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    Ep.iv.;cn.i. 

ful  to  human  nature.  He  has  always  voted,  as  I  am  told,  in 
favor  of  the  king's  measures  in  parliament,  and  at  the  same 
time  professed  himself  a  friend  to  the  liberties  of  America. 
lie  seems  to  me  either  never  to  have  had  any  good  principles 
at  all,  or  not  to  have  presence  of  mind  openly  and  uniformly 
to  avow  them."  Robert  Moms  resolved  as  a  good  citizen  to 
follow  if  he  could  not  lead,  and  thencefnrward  suppurted  inde- 
pendence. As  the  only  answer  to  Lord  Howe,  congress,  on 
the  nineteenth,  resolved  that  its  own  state  paper  of  the  fourth 
of  July  should  be  engrossed  on  parchment  as  "  the  naninxous 
declaration  of  the  thirteen  UNrrED  States  of  AMEjauA,"  and 
signed  by  every  one  of  itt,  members.  It  further  directed  Lord 
Howe's  circular  letter  and  declaration  to  be  published,  "  that 
the  good  people  of  these  United  States  may  be  informed  of 
what  nature  are  the  commissioners,  and  what  the  terms  with 
which  the  insidious  con:-t  of  Britain  has  endeavored  to  amuse 
and  disarm  them ;  and  that  the  few  who  still  remain  suspended 
by  a  hope,  founded  either  in  the  justice  or  moderation  of  their 
late  king,  may  at  length  be  convinced  that  the  valor  alone  of 
their  country  is  to  save  its  liberties." 

Before  tliis  decision  could  reach  Washington  he  had  made 
his  own  opinions  known.  In  reply  to  a  resolution  of  congress 
on  the  massacre  by  Indians  of  some  prisoners  who  had  capitu- 
lated in  Canada,  General  Howe  had,  on  the  sixteenth,  sent  him 
a  note,  of  which  the  address  had  no  recognition  of  his  official 
station.  The  letter  was  for  that  reason  not  received ;  and  on 
the  twentieth  a  second  letter  was  rejected,  because  its  address 
was  ambiguous ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  coming  to  some  agreement 
respecting  prisoners,  Paterson,  its  bearer,  the  British  adjutant- 
general,  was  allowed  to  enter  the  American  camp.  After 
pledging  the  Avord  of  the  British  commander  to  grant  to  pris- 
oners the  rights  of  humanity  and  to  punish  the  officers  who 
had  broken  their  par»,le,  he  asked  to  have  his  visit  accepted  as 

^  the  first  advance  from  the  commissioners  for  restoring  peace, 

"and  asserted  that  they  had  great  powers.  "From  what  ap- 
pears," rejoined  Washington,  "  they  have  power  only  to  grant 
pardons ;  having  connnitted  no  fault,  we  need  no  pardon ;  we 

I  are  only  defending  what  we  deem  to  be  our  indisputable 

/  rights." 


1T70. 


CAJf  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  ISDEPENDENOE? 


To  Franklin,  as  to  a  wortliy  friend,  Lord  IIowo  had  sent 
assurances  bat  to  promote  lasting  peaee  and  nnion,  and  p^ 
vent  American  commerce  from  passing  to  foreig,^  „a2^ 
formed  "the  great  objects  of  his  ambition."  FraSlin  S 
cons,rltmg  congress,  answred:  "By  a  peace  between  Brito 
and  America,  as  distmct  states,  yonr  nation  might  reeoyer  Z 
greates  part  of  our  growing  commerce,  with  that  addition^ 
strength  to  he  derived  from  a  friendship  with  as  ;  but  her  hst 
of  domimon,  and  her  thirst  for  a  gainfd  monopirvril,  'l' 
to  hide  her  tree  interests  from  lior  eyes.  ^ 

"The  well-fonnded  esteem  and  affection  which  I  shall 
always  have  for  your  lordship  makes  it  painful  to  me  to  s^ 
you  engaged  m  conducting  a  war,  the  great  ground  Z 
which,  as  expressed  in  your  letter,  is  'the  necessity  o^p^ven^ 
mgthe  Amenean  trade  from  passing  into  foreign  chalv 
Eetommg  a  trade  s  not  an  object  for  which  men  may  in 2 
spiU  each  other's  Mood  ;  the  true  means  of  securing  coim^e 
IS  the  goodness  and  cheapness  of  commodities ;  and  thTproflt 
of  no  trade  can  ever  be  equal  to  the  expense  of  eompelhCi 
by  fleets  and  amiics.  ouipeinug  it 

"Posterity  will  condemn  to  infamy  those  who  advised  this 
war;  and  even  success  will  not  save  from  some  degree  of  di" 
honor  those  who  voluntarily  engage  to  conduct  it.S  belief 
that  when  you  find  conciliation  impossible  on  any  terms  riven 
you  to  propose  yon  will  relinquish  so  odious  a  command  " 

When  on  the  thirtieth  Lord  Howe  received  this  renlv  his 
countenance  grew  more  sombre;  teai-s  glistened  in  Ss  L 
he  looked  within  himself,  and  was  conlcions  of  aiming Ta 

L,n  ,„"' ''"S'"'  to  <J»™  upon  him  that  he  had  been  deceived 
nto  accepting  a  commission  which  left  him  no  power  but  to 
assist  in  the  subjugation  of  America  by  arms  J 

Brit  ,h  leer-  rT  ri""-    ''™"  ""=  "«^'-  '»  "'fe«  fte 
,  othccrswho  had  been  taken  by  "  the  rebels  "  and  still 
more  from  a  consideration  of  the  difficulties  -vhich  mMtIf 

Ssto  "Tb  /°"tr  •■'^  ^^™«  ™  Aineii^t tile  BritS; 
mimste  ,  m  February  1770,  instracted  General  Howe  to  eiloct 
the  oxchang.  „t  pri,„,,„,  ,„t  ^^..^^^  ^^^^  ^-^  ^^t 


;  i      I 


V- 


10  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  on.  i. 

in  any  negotiation  for  that  purpose.  The  secretary's  letter  was 
followed  by  the  proposal,  in  July  177G,  to  give  up  a  citizen 
carried  away  from  Boston  for  a  British  subject  held  in  arrest. 
Congress,  on  the  twenty-second,  voted  its  appro  t^al,  and  gave 
power  to  exchange  prisoners  of  war :  officer  for  officer  of  equal 
rank,  soldier  for  soldier,  sailor  for  sailor,  and  citizen  for  citizen. 
In  this  arrangement  Howe  readily  concurred.  Interrupted  by 
frequent  altercations,  it  prevailed  to  the  end  of  the  war. 

Union  was  the  cry  of  America.  "  The  plan  of  a  confedera- 
tion was  drawn  by  Dickinson,"  *  and  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
committee  before  the  end  of  June. 

The  main  hindrance  to  the  establishment  of  a  strong,  over- 
ruling central  force  was  an  unwillingness  of  the  separate  states 
to  give  up  power,  and  a  jealousy  of  establishing  it  in  other 
ihands  than  their  own.  The  Dutch  and  Swiss  confederacies 
were  the  only  models  known  to  the  people  in  detail,  and  they 
were  studied  and  imitated.  There  was  not  at  that  time  one 
civilian  who  fully  co-nprehended  the  need  of  the  country,  or 
was  lit  to  be  the  architect  of  a  permanent  national  constitution ; 
and  zeal  to  guard  against  the  predominance  of  the  central 
power  heightened  the  imperfections  which  had  their  deep  root 
in  the  history  of  the  states. 

Every  English  administration  had  aimed  at  acquiring  the 
disposal  of  the  military  resources  and  revenues  of  the  colonies, 
while  every  American  legislature  had  constp.ntly  resisteci  en- 
croachments. This  resistance,  developed  and  confirmed  by 
successive  generations,  had  become  the  instinct  and  habit  of 
the  people.   '     ,  ....'^^  ..,    ,«;     .  ,    ,  a-    ■    : 

In  raising  a  revenue,  the  colonies  had  acknowledged  in  the 
king  no  function  whatever  except  that  of  addressing  to  them 
severally  requisitions  which  they,  after  deliberation  and  con- 
sent, were  to  collect  by  their  own  separate  power.  The  con- 
federacy now  stood  in  the  place  of  the  crown  as  the  central 
authority  ;  and  to  that  federal  union  the  colonies,  by  general 
concurrence,  proposed  to  confide  only  the  same  limited  right 
of  making  requisitions. 

The  plan  of  Dickinson  was  less  efficient  than  that  proposed 
the  year  before  by  Franklin.     Colonies  often  failed  to  be  rep- 
*  Edward  Rutledge  to  John  Jay,  29  June  1776.    MS. 


Kr.  IV. ;  on.  I. 


IVM. 


CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  INDEPENDENCE? 


11 

resented;  Franklin',  plan  eonstitntod  one  Lalf  of  the  members 
of  eongross  a  ,i„onnn,  and  loft  the  deeision  of  every  ^etL 
to  the  majority  of  those  who  might  be  nresent  •  -V,  'V .    ™ 
knejv  only  .;  the  United  States  assembled  -Ctl'd":^;:: 
of  them  winch  m.ght  ehanee  to  be  unrepresented  as  a  vote  in 
the  negative ;  required  that  not  oven  a  trivial  matter  shond 
be  detenmned  exeep;  by  the  oonemrenee  of  seven  eolonie  • 
and  that  measures  of  primary  importance  should  await  the 
assent  of  nme  that  Is,  of  at  least  two  thirds  of  the  whde     U 
eight  states  only  were  present,  no  qnestion  relating  to  deLce 
peace,  war,  hnanees,  army,  or  navy,  eonld  be  tnitsacted  evrn 
by  a  unanimous  vote;  nor  eould  a  matter  of  smaller  momlnt 
be  settled  by  a  majority  of  six  to  two.    Franklin  accented  aH 
amendments  that  should  be  approved  by  a  majoSy'^the 
e™^'st?t'e     '""  ""™"'=''  --'"-fc-'^-'l^ythe  consent  o? 

Edward  Rutledgc  of  South  Carolina,  whoserved  with  indus- 
try on  the  committee  with  Dickinson,  saw  danger  in  an  lud 
»ub!e  league  of  friendship  between  the  states  for  thcTr  gZ- 
ral  welfare,  and  m  June,  while  the  plan  was  still  in  the  hml 
of  the  committee,  wrote  privately  but  deliberately:  "If  the 
pto  now  proposed  should  be  adopted,  nothing  less  than  ruin 
o  some  colonies  will  bo  the  conseqlnc'e,    TheldeTo  dest"; 
lug  all  provmeial  distinctions,  and  making  everything  of  tlfe 
most  mmnte  kind  bend  to  what  they  call  the  good  of  the  who  1 
m  other  terms  to  say  that  these  colonies  nfnst  be  ubfect  ,o 
the  government  of  the  eastern  provinces.    The  force  of  tW 
arms  I  hold  exceeding  cheap;  but  I  dread  therovel tl 
inflnenee  in  comicil.    I  am  resolved  to  vest  the  eongle^v^h 
no  more  power  than  what  is  absolutely  necc^o',  a^rkeep 
tl  e  staif  m  o,„  own  hands  ;  for,  if  surrendered  fnto  the  hands 
of  others,  a  most  pernicious  use  will  be  ra.ade  of  it  "* 

Eight  days  after  the  declaration  of  indepeudenee  the  com- 

stee  of  Die r     '"  T^'T  ^*'  "'  confederation  in  tCZ 
sence  of  Dickinson  brought  in  his  draft.    After  it  had  Iwen 
pnn  ed,  on  the  twenty-second  of  July  IT    ,   ,  wa  ,at„tto 
consideration  bycongress  in  committee  of  ti..  wlTo  e     The  dt      ' 
euBsion  was  renewed  at  every  following  session  injulyrnd  for 

m.  y.-s*  ^^""^''Se  to  Jay,  29  June  1776.    MS. 


1 1 

Ifil 


1", 
11 


/ 


V 
•^ 


(  .  1 


12         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  on.  i. 

several  days  in  August.*    The  powers  conceded  to  tlie  confed- 
eration, narrow  as  tliey  were,  aroused  distrust  and  fear.     The 
plan,  assuming  population  to  be  the  index  of  wealth,  proposed 
to  obtain  supplies  by  requisitions  upon  each  state  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  excepting  none  but  Indians 
not  paying  taxes.     Chase  moved  to  count  only  the  "white  in- 
habitants ; "  for  "negroes  were  property, and  no  more  members 
of  the  state  tlian  cattle."     "Call  the  laboring  poor  f/eemen  or 
slaves,"  said  John  Adaius,  "  they  increase  the  wealth  and  ex- 
ports  of  the  state  as  much  in  the  one  case  aa  in  the  other,  and 
should  therefore  add  equally  to  the  quota  of  its  tax."    Harrison 
of  Yirginia  proposed  as  a  com]>romise  that  two  slaves  should  be 
counted  as  one  freeman.     "  To  exempt  slaves  from  taxation," 
said  Wilson,  "^Wll  be  the  greatest  encouragement  to  slave- 
keeping  and  the  importation  of  slaves,  on  v  i>icli  it  is  our  duty 
to  lay  every  discouragement.     Slaves  increase  profits,  which 
the  southern  states  take  to  themselves;  they  increase  the  bur- 
den of  defence,  which  must  faU  so  much  the  more  heavily  on 
the  northern.     Slaves  prevent  freemen   from  cultivating  a 
couiitr>%     Dismiss  your  slaves,  and  freemen  will  take  their 
places."     "  Freemen,"  said  young  L;yTich  of  South  Carolina, 
"  have  neither  the  ability  nor  the  inclmation  to  do  the  work 
that  the  negroes  do.    Our  slaves  are  our  property ;  if  that  is 
debated,  there  is  an  end  of  confederation.     Being  our  prop- 
erty, why  should  they  be  taxed  more  than  sheep  ?""     "  There 
is  a  difference,"  said  Franklin ;  "sheep  will  never  make  insur- 
rections."   Witherspoon  thought  the  value  of  lands  and  houses 
was  the  true  barometer  of  the  wealth  of  a  people,  and  the 
cnterion  for  taxation.    Edward  Rutledge  objected  to  the  i-ule 
of  numbers  because  it  included  slaves,  and  because  it  exempted 
the  wealth  to  be  acquired  by  the  eastern  states  as  carriers  for 
the  southern.     Hooper  of  ^ith  Carolina  cited  his  own  state 
as  a  strikmg  exception  to  the  rule  that  the  riches  of  a  country 
are  m  proportion  to  its  munbers;  and,  commenting  on  the  un- 
profitableness of  slave  labor,  he  exi^ressed  the  ^^•ish  to  see  slavery 
pass  away.    The  amendment  of  Chase  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of 
all  the  states  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  hue  against  all  those 

*  Secret  Journals  of  Congress,  i.,  290-315 ;  John  Adan.s's  works,  ii.,  492-502  • 
Jefferson's  works,  i.,  2G-36.  ' 


KP.  IV. ;  on.  I. 


1770. 


CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  INDEPENDENCE? 


13 

eoutli  of  it,  except  that  Georgia  wae  divided.    The  confodom 
tion  could  not  of  itself  levy  taxes,  and  no  rule  for  apportioning 
requisitions  jjromised  harmony.  *  ^ 

A  second  article  which  divided  the  states  related  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  power  in  the  general  congress.   Delaware,  from  the 
begimiing,  bound  her  delegates  to  insist  that,  "  in  declaring  nues- 
tions  each  colony  should  have  one  vote ; "  and  this  was  tlVrule 
ado  ted  by  Dickinson.    Chase  saw  the  extreme  danger  of  a 
hopeless  conflict,  and  proposed  a^  a  compromise  that  in  votes 
relating  to  money  the  voice  of  each  state  should  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.     Franklin  insisted 
that  they  should  be  so  proportioned  in  all  cases;  that  it  was 
um-easonableto  set  out  with  an  unequal  representation;  that 
a  contedcration  on  the  iniquitous  principle  of  aUowui^  to 
the  smaller  states  an  equal  vote  without  their  bnarinL.  e^mal 
buraens  could  not  la.t  long.     "AH  agree,"  replied  Wither- 
spoon,_nhat  there  must  and  shall  be  a  confederation  for  this 
war;  m  the  enhghtened  state  of  men's  minds,  I  hope  for  a 
lasting  one.     Our  greatest  danger  i,  of  disunion  among  our- 
selves.   Nothing  will  come  before  congress  but  what  respects 
colonies  and  not  individuals.     Every  colony  is  a  distinct  per- 
son ;  and,  if  an  equal  vote  be  refused,  the  smaller  states  -.vill  be 
vassals  to  the  larger."     -  We  must  confederate,"  said  Clark  of 
J>^ew  Jersey,   "or  apply  for  pardons."     «We  should  settle 
some  plan  of  representation,"  said  Wilson.      John  Adams 
agreed  with  Franklin:  "We  represent  the  people;  and  Tn 
some  states  they  are  many,  in  others  they  are  few;  the  vote 
should  be  proportioned  to  numbers.    The  confederacy  is  to 

wT  Til  T''*'  P"'"'^'  ^^  "^'*^'  ^^*^  «^^  ^^'^^on  mass. 
we  sliall  no  longer  retain  our  separate  individuality,  but  be- 
come a  single  individual  as  to  aU  questions  submittid  to  the 
confederacy ;  therefore  all  those  reasons  which  prove  the  ius! 
tice  and  expediency  of  a  proportional  representation  in  other 
assemblies  hold  good  here.    An  equal  vote  will  endanger  the 

mterest,  and  of  manners,  can  never  combine  for  the  oppres- 
sion of    he  smaller."    Kush  spoke  on  the  same  side  .-We 

C.":  ;?^'  *^  7^;^^^  ^'-'^^  ^^11  keep  up  colonial  distinc- 
tions ,  and  we  eliall  be  loath  to  admit  new  colonies  into  the 


!M1 


1)1- 


14         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  en.  I. 


:t!! 


k  ^f 


I 


fi 


oonfederation.     Tho  voting  by  the  nuuihcr  of  free  inhaljitants 
will  liavc  the  excellent  effect  of  inducing  the  cohmies  to  dis- 
connige   slavery.      The  larger   colonies  are  so  providentially 
divided  in  situation  as  to  render  every  fear  of  their  combinin"- 
visionary.     The  more  a  man   aims  at  serving  America,  the 
more  lie  serves  his  colon.,  ;  I  am  not  pleading  the  cause  of 
Pennsylvania ;  I  consider  myself  a  citizen  of  America."    Hop- 
kins of  Rhode  Island  pleaded  for  the  smaller  c(jlonies :  "  The 
German  body  votes  by  states ;  so  does  the  Helvetic ;  so  does 
the  Belgie.    Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  and  Mary- 
land contain  more  than  half  tlie  people ;  it  can  not  be  ex- 
pected that  nine  colonies  will  give  way  to  four.     The  safety 
of  the   whole   depends  on  the   distinction   of  the   colonies." 
"The  vote,"  said  Sherman  of  Connecticut,  "should  be  taken 
two  ways  :  call  the  colonies,  and  call  the  individuals,  and  have 
'a  majority  of  both."     Jefferson  enforced,  as  the  moans  to  save 
[the  union,  that  "an.y  proposition  might  be  negatived  by  the 
'representatives  of  a  majority  of  the  people,  or  of  a  majority 
I  of  the  colonies."     Here  is  the  thought  out  of  which  the  great 
/  compromise  of  our  constitution  was  evolved.* 
L        Aside  from  the  permanent  question  of  taxation  and  repre- 
sentation, what  most  stood  in  the  way  of  an  early  act  of  union 
was  the  conflict  of  claims  to  the  ungranted  lands,  which  duriuf 
the  connection  with  Great  Britain  had  belonged  to  the  kin^ 
It  was  not  questioned  that  each  member  of  the  confederacy 
had  acquired  the  sole  right  to  the  pul)lic  domain  within  its 
acknowledged  limits;  but  on  the  second  of  August  it  was  pro- 
posed to  vindicate  for  the  United  States  the  great  territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio  by  investing  congress  "  with  the  exclu- 
sive power  of  limiting  the  bounds  of  those  colonies  which 
were  said  to  extend  to  the  South  Sea,  and  ascertaining  the 
bounds  of  any  other  th^t  appeared  to  be  indeterminate."    Jef- 
ferson spoke  against  the  proposed  power  as  too  great  and  vague, 
and  protested  against  the  competency  of  congress  to  decide  upon 
the  right  of  Yirginia;  but  he  confidently  expressed  the  ho^ie 
•'  that  the  colonies  would  limit  themselves."    Unless  they  would 
do  so,  Wilson  claimed  for  Pennsylvania  the  right  to  say  she 
would  not  confederate. 

*  John  Adams,  ii.,  49'J,  and  ix.,  465,  46T. 


1776. 


CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  INDEPENDENCE? 


15 

The  scl.cme  of  confederation  was  in  its  fomi  so  complicate 
and  in  its  type  so  low  tliat,  at  the  outset,  the  misshapen  onan- 
ism struck  vvith  paralysis  the  zeal  for  creating  a  governnient 
Had  It  been  at  once  adopted,  the  v.ar  could  not  have  been  car' 
ned  on ;  but  congress  soon  grew  weary  of  considering  it,  and 
the  revolution  darmg  ,ts  years  of  crisis  continued  to  be  coi^ 
ducted  by  the  more  efficient  existing  union,  which  had  grown 
out  of  the  instructions  of  tlie  several  colonies  to  their  dektates 
was  he  d  together  by  the  necessities  of  war,  and  acknowkdged 
the  right  of  the  majority  to  decide  a  question. 

The  states  had,  therefore,  to  light  the  battles  of  indepen- 
dence under  the  simple  organization  by  which  it  had  been  de- 
c  aied;  the  fear  of  a  standing  army  as  a  deadly  foe  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people  had  thus  far  limited  the  enlistment  of 
citizens  to  short  terms ;  so  that  the  national  defence  was  com- 
mi  ted  to  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  militia  of  the  separate  sttt 
and  good  discipline  was  made  impossible.  ' 

lu  July,  Crown  Point  was  abandoned  by  the  northern  anny 
on  the  concurrent  advice  of  the  general  officers,  against  tl  o 
protest  of  Shirk  and  twenty  field-officers.  Gates,  though  holl 
mg  a  subordinate  command,  neglected  to  make  reports  to  his 
superior;  and  when  AVashington,  after  consulting  his  ccrandi 

ZTli  'T  '''"''.''  ''  "^'^'i-^^«edented,"  insisted  that  he 
and  his  counci  were  in  "nothing  inferior"  to  "their  bretliren 
and  compeers,"  and  referred  the  matter  to  congress.  W  ile 
^  o  hastily  set  himself  up  as  the  rival  of  the  commander-^ 
chief,  he  was  intriguing  with  J^ew  England  members  of  con- 
gress to  supersede  Schuyler. 

nl  oMer  -  n"''-'^  "^  '^"^"^''  ^^^^^gton  declared  in  a  gener- 
al oidei  .     Divisions  among  ourselves  most  effectually  assist  our 

m^,  and  all  <hstmctions  are  sunk  in  the  name  of  an  American." 
On  the  next  day  the  members  of  congress,  having  no  army 
but  a  transient  one,  no  confederation,  no^reiury,  n'^o  suppZ 
of  materials  of  war,  signed  the  declaration  of  Mepe  den  0^ 
M^nch  had  been  engrossed  on  parchment.  The  first^^  er  John 
Hancock  the  president,  to  write  his  name  was  Samu  Idl^" 
to  whom  the  men  of  that  day  ascribed  "the  greatest  parti' 


hif 


.|i 


lI 


r'l 


# 


16 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Ep.  IV. :  on.  I. 


^ 


tlie  greatest  revolution  of  the  world."  The  body  WcOS  some- 
what changed  from  that  which  voted  on  the  fourth  of  July. 
Chase  was  now  present,  and  by  his  side  Charles  Carroll,  a  new 
member,  in  whose  election  the  long  disfranchised  Catholics  of 
Maryland  saw  an  evidence  of  their  disinthralment.  Wythe 
and  Eichard  Henry  Lee  had  returned  from  Eichmond  ;  Dick- 
inson and  two  of  his  colleagues  had  made  way  for  Clymer, 
Eush,  and  others ;  Eobert  Moms,  who  had  been  continued  as 
a  rejiresentative  of  Pennsylvania,  now  acted  heartily  with  John 
Adams  and  Jefferson  and  Franklin.  Mackean  was  with  the 
anny,  and  did  not  set  his  name  to  the  roll  before  1781.  For 
New  York,  Philip  Livingston  and  Lewis  Morris  joined  with 
Francis  Lewis  and  "William  Floyd. 

American  independence  was  ratified  not  by  congress  only, 
but  by  the  nation.  The  unselfish  enthusiasm  of  the  people 
was  its  support ;  the  boundlessness  of  the  country  fonned  its 
natural  defence ;  and  the  self -asserting  individuality  of  every 
state  and  of  eveiy  citizen,  though  it  delayed  the  organization 
of  an  efficient  government  with  executive  unity,  imposed  on 
Britain  the  imjiossible  task  of  conquering  them  one  by  one. 

Since  America  must  wage  a  war  for  existence  as  a  nation 
without  an  efficient  government,  there  was  the  more  need  of 
foreign  alliances.  The  maritime  powers,  which  saw  in  Eno;- 
land  their  natural  foe,  did  not  wait  to  be  entreated.  On  the 
seventh  of  July,  when  there  was  danger  of  a  rupture  between 
Spain  and  Portugal  on  a  question  of  the  boundaries  of  Brazil, 
Vergcnnes  read  to  the  king  in  council  his  advice : 

"  The  king  of  Spain  must  not  act  precipitately,  for  a  war 
by  land  would  divert  us  from  the  great  object  of  weakening 
the  only  enemy  whom  France  can  and  ought  to  distrust.  The 
sjiirit  and  the  letter  of  the  alliance  M'ith  Austria  promise  her 
influence  to  hold  back  Eussia  from  listening  to  English  over- 
tures. In  Holland  it  will  be  proper  to  reanima^o  the  ashes  of 
the  republican  party,  and  propitiate  fa\-or  for  neutrality  as  a 
source  of  profit.  The  Americans  must  be  notified  of  the  con- 
sequences which  the  actual  state  of  things  presages,  if  they 
will  '.mt  await  its  development.  As  the  English  are  armed  in 
IS^orth  America,  vre  cannot  leave  our  colonies  destitute  of  all 
means  of  resistance.    The  isli's  of  France  and  Bourbon  demand 


EP.  IV. ;  OH.  I. 

was  some- 
li  of  July, 
•roll,  a  new 
'atholics  of 
t.  Wythe 
)nd ;  Dick- 
)r  Clymer, 
Hitinued  as 

with  John 
s  with  the 
L781.  For 
ained  with 

;ress  only, 
the  people 
fonned  its 
Y  of  every 
■ganization 
nposed  on 
by  one. 
s  a  nation 
•e  need  of 
iV  in  Eng- 
.  On  the 
e  between 
of  Brazil, 

for  a  war 
ivoakening 
■ust.  The 
oniise  her 
;lish  over- 
e  ashes  of 
rality  as  a 
f  the  con- 
(8,  if  they 
!  armed  in 
ute  of  all 

ill  (loniniirl 


1776. 


CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  IxNDEPENDENOE  ? 


1^ 

the  same  forethought.  The  English,  under  pretence  of  reUev- 
mg  then-  s.piadron  in  the  Indies,  will  double  its  force  •  and 
such  IS  their  strength  in  the  peninsula  of  Hindostan,' the^ 
might  easily  drive  us  from  Pondicherry  and  our  colonies  H 
we  do  not  prepare  for  defence.  Time  is  precious :  every  mo- 
ment  must  be  turned  to  account." 

Rei)lying  to  an  inquiry  of  the  comptroller-general,  Yer- 
gennes,  on  the  tenth,  advised  to  admit  the  ships  and  cargoes 
of  the  united  colonies  without  exacting  duties  or  appMng 
the  restrictive  laws  on  their  entry  or  departure ;  so  that  Franc! 
might  become  the  emporium  of  their  commerce  with  other 
European  nations.  "  Take  every  precaution,"  so  he  admon- 
ished las  colleague,  "that  our  motives,  our  intentions,  and,  aa 
lar^as  possible,  our  proceedings,  may  be  hidden  from  the  Eng- 

The  attempt  at  concealment  was  frustrated  by  the  arrival 
ot  fellas  Deaiie.     He  was  instructed  to  obtain  information  of 

.t;f  f'i  ^^^'^^J'^^™^  "^  England  through  his  old  acquaint- 
ance, Edward  Bancroft,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  had 
migrated  to  the  mother  country,  and  had  there  gained  some 
reput^  as  a  physician  and  a  naturalist.     In  17G9  he  had  pub- 
ished  an  able  and  spirited  pamphlet,  vindicating  the  legisla- 
ve  claims  of  the  colonies ;  and,  under  some  supervision  from 
IV-ankhn,  he  had  habitually  written  for  tlie  "Monthly  Z 
view    notices  of  publications  relating  to  America.      lie  ac- 

the  more  lucrative  olhce  of  a  double  spy  for  the  British  min- 

view^""  P  '  "^'^"'"'}'  ^^'^g^"^^«  '-^^^^'ttea  Beane  to  an  inter- 
view. Reserving  for  the  king's  consideration  the  question  of 
recognising  he  independence  and  protecting  the  trLe  of  the 
umted  colonies,  he  listened  with  grL  satisfaction  to  the  e^ 
d  nces  o    their  ability  to  hold  out  against  British  arms  to  the 

itXmZ-  "f.r'  ''  "  ^'^  ^'''^  ^i^""-  tl-^'  '•»  «ase 
they  nH         "^t  «^«  ^o-oreignty  of  his  Britannic  majesty, 

onl^^Lr      r^\':  unanimous  good  wishes  of  the  gov! 

unment  and  people  of  France,  whose  interest  it  would  not  be 

ee^heiu  reduced  by  force.     Beceived  again  on  the  twon! 

tKth,  Dcane  made  a  lormal  request  for  two  hundred  li.ht 


!     ■ 


18  AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.joh.i. 

brass  field-pieces,  and  arms  and  clotliing  for .  twenty-five  thou- 
sand men.      Tlie  arms  Avere  promised;   and  Eeaumarchais, 
whom  Yergennes  authoritatively  recommended,  offered  mer- 
chandise on  credit  to  the  value  of  three  millions  of  livres.    But 
Deane  summoned  Bancroft  to  his  side  as  if  he  had  been  a  col- 
league, showed  him  his  letters  of  credence  and  his  instructions, 
took  him  as  a  companion  in  his  journeys  to  Versailles,  and  re- 
peated to  him  all  that  passed  in  tlie  interviews  with  the  minis- 
ter.    Bancroft  returned  to  England,  and  his  narrative  for  the 
Bntish  ministry  is  a  full  record  of  the  first  official  intercourse 
between  France  and  the  United  States.     The  knowledge  thus 
obtained  enabled  the  British  ambassador  to  embarrass  the  ship- 
ment of  supplies  by  timely  remonstrances ;  for  the  French 
cabinet  was  not  yet  willing  to  appear  openly  in  support  of  the 
insurgents. 

The  arrival  of  the  declaration  of  independence  gave  more 
earnestness  to  the  advice  of  Vergennes.     On  the  last  day  of 
August  he  read  to  the  king,  in  connnittee  with  Maurepas,  Sar- 
tme,  Saint-Germain,  and  Clugny,  considerations  on  the  part 
which  France  should  now  take  toward  England  :  "  Euin  hangs 
over  a  state  wliicli,  trusting  to  the  good  faith  of  its  rivals 
neglects  precautions  for  safety,  and  disdains  the  opportunity  of 
rendenng  its  habitual  foe  powerless  to  injure.    England  is 
without  question  the  hereditary  enemy  of  France.      In  her 
mtense  nationality  of  character,  tlie  feeblest  gleam  of  pros- 
penty  in  France  is  an  unsupportable  grief.     She  arrogates  the 
exclusive  empire  over  tlie  seas,  and  it  is  her  constant  maxim  to 
make  war  upon  us  as  soon  as  she  sees  us  ready  to  assume  our 
proper  place  as  a  maritime  power.     Left  to  herself,  she  will 
fall  upon  our  marine,  taking  the  same  advantage  as  in  1755 
What  rejiaration  have  wo  thus  far  obtained  for  the  affronts 
that  have  been  put  upon  us  in  India,  and  the  habitual  violation 
of  our  rights  at  Newf.>undland  under  the  clear  and  precise 
stipulations  of  a  treaty?    In  the  south  of  America,  Portugal 
openly  attacks  Spain  ;  England  justifies  her  ally  and  nourishes 
the  germ  of  this  quarrel,  in  order  to  direct  its  development  as 
may  nuit  her  ambition.     England  has  in  America  a  numerous 
army  and  Hcet,  equipped  for  prompt  action ;  if  the  Amencans 
baffle  her  efforts,  will  not  the  chiefs  of  the  ministry  seek  com- 


i   1 


1776. 


CAN  THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  INDEPENDENCE? 


19 

pensation  at  the  expense  of  France  or  Spain?  Her  conduct 
makes  It  p km,  even  to  demonstration,  that  we  can  count  little 
upon  her  smceritj  and  rectitude. 

'/The  advantages  of  a  war  with   England  in  the  present 
conjuncture  prevail  so  eminently  over  its  inconveniences  that 
there  is  no  room  for  a  comparison.    What  better  moment  could 
France  seize,  to  efface  the  shame  of  the  odious  surprise  of  1755 
and  all  the  ensuing  disasters,  than  tliis,  ^v•hon  England,  enc^a^ed 
m  a  civil  war  a  thousand  leagues  off,  has  scattered  the  for'^es 
necessary  for  her  internal  defence  ?  Her  sailors  are  in  America 
not  m  ships-of-war  only,  but  in  more  than  four  hundred  trans^ 
ports.     Now  that  the  United  States  have  declared  their  inde- 
pendence,  thei^  is  no  chance  of  con.-liation  unless  supernatural 
events  should  force  them  to  bend  under  the  yoke,  or  the  Enl 
hsh  to  recognise  their  independence.     While  the  war  continues 
be  weeii  the  insurgents  and  the  English,  the  American  sailors 
and  soldiers,  who  m  the  last  war  contributed  to  make  those 
enormous  conquests  of  which  France  felt  so  keenly  the  humili- 
ation, will  be  employed  against  the  English,  and  indirectly  for 
France.    The  war  will  form  between  France  and  North  Ameri- 
ca a  connection  which  will  not  grow  up  and  vanish  with  the 
need  of  the  moment.    No  conflicting  interest  divides  the  two 
nations.     Commerce  will  form  between  them  a  very  durable 
I    not  ail  eternal,  chain;  vivifying  industry,  it  will  bring  into 
our  harbors  the  commodities  which  America  formerly  poured 
mto  those  of  England,  with  a  double  beneiit,  for  the  augmenta- 
tion of  our  national  labor  lessens  that  of  a  rival 

"  Wliether  war  against  England  would  involve  a  war  on 
the  continent  deserves  to  Le  discussed.     The  only  three  powers 

atHuS  '"t  "  ir  ''".  '^^^  '''' ''''  ^''^  ^-*-'  P-^^ 

net^mv      The       :  Tr"  ^"""  '"•  1"^^^'  -^"--^-  ^- 
ouse  of  Bourbon  and  England.     The  republic  of  Holland 

hSlt  f^:"^  ""  1^"''^  '^  '^''  ^^'^'^  ^-"^^t  fear  their 

n^imi ha  ion,  and  would  regard  the  war  on  the  part  of  France 
a.  one  of  conservation  rather  thun  of  conquest.     If  his  majesty, 


if 


20 


AMERICA  m  ALLI.\NCE  WITH   FKANCE. 


EP.  ir. ;  en.  I. 


f^ 


seizing  a  unique  occasion  which  the  ages  will  perhaps  never  re- 
produce, should  succeed  in  striking  England  a  blow  sufficient 
to  lower  her  pride  and  to  confine  her  pretensions  within  just 
limits,  he  will  for  many  years  be  master  of  peace,  and  will  have 
the  precious  glory  of  becoming  the  benefactor  not  of  liis  people 
only,  but  of  all  the  nations. 

"Should  his  majesty,  on  the  other  hand,  prefer  a  doubtfiil 
and  ill-assured  peace  to  a  war  which  necessity  and  reason  can 
justify,  the  defence  of  our  possessions  will  exact  almost  as  great 
an  expenditure  as  war,  without  any  of  the  alleviations  and  re- 
sources which  war  authorizes.  Even  could  we  be  passive  spec- 
tators of  the  revolution  in  North  America,  can  we  look  im- 
moved  at  that  which  is  preparing  in  Hindostan,  and  which 
will  be  as  fatal  to  us  as  that  in  America  to  England  ?  The 
revolution  in  Hindostan,  once  begun,  wUl  console  England  for 
her  losses  by  increasing  her  means  and  her  riches  tenfold.  This 
we  are  still  able  to  prevent." 

After  these  sharp  and  penetrating  words  Yergennes  «  awaited 
in  respectful  silence  the  command  which  might  please  the  wis- 
dom of  the  king."  The  result  was  what  Vergennes  desired; 
the  conduct  of  the  British  ministry  in  17G8,  during  the  insur- 
rection of  the  Corsican  people  against  France  in  defeuce  of 
their  Hberty,  was  adopted  as  the  precedent  for  France  in  ren- 
dering aid  to  the  Americans. 

Meantime,  Beaumarchais,  with  the  connivance  of  Yergennes, 
used  delicate  flattery  to  awaken  in  the  temporizing  Maurepas 
a  passion  for  glory.     Tlie  profligate  Count  d'Artois,  younger 
brother  of  the  king,  and  the  prodigal  Duke  de  Chartres,  better 
known  as  the  duke  of  Orieans,  innovators  in  manners,  throw- 
ing aside  the  stiff  etiquette  and  rich  dress  of  fomer  days  for 
the  English  fashion  of  plain  attire,  daring  riders  and  chariot- 
eers, eager  patrons  of  the  race-course  which  was  still  a  novelty 
m  France,  gave  their  voices  for  war.     The  Count  de  Broglie 
was  an  early  partisan  of  the  Americans.     A  large  part  of  the 
nobihty  of  France  panted  for  an  opportunity  to  tame  the  haught- 
iness of  England,  whicli,  as  tliey  said  to  one  another,  after  hav- 
mg  crowned  itself  with  laurels,  and  grown  rich  by  conquests, 
and  mastered  all  the  sens,  and  insulted  every  nation,  now  turned 
its  insatiable  pride  against  its  own  colonies.     I  n-st  amonjr  these 


1776.      CAN  TUE  STATES  MAINTAIN  INDEPENDENCE?       21 

was  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  then  just  nineteen,  master  of  t^7o 
hundred  thousand  livres  a  year,  and  liappy  in  a  wife  who  had 
the  spn-it  to  approve  his  enthusiasm.     He  whispered  his  pur- 
pose of  jonimg  the  Americans  to  two  young  friends,  the  Count 
defeegur  and  the  Viscount  de  NoaiUes,  who  wished,  though  in 
vam,  to  be  his  companions.     At  first  the  Count  de  Broo-lie 
opposed  his  project,  saying :  « I  have  seen  your  uncle  die  in*the 
wars  of  Italy ;  I  was  present  when  your  father  fell  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Mmden ;  and  I  will  not  be  accessory  to  the  ruin  of  the 
only  remaining  branch  of  the  family."    But  when  it  appeared 
that  the  young  man's  heart  was  enrolled,  and  that  he  took 
thought  of  nothing  but  how  to  join  the  flag  of  his  choice,  the 
count  respected  his  unalterable  resolution. 

Like  Louis  XYL,  Charles  IIL,  then  kmg  of  Spain,  opposed 
open  hostihties ;  Grunaldi,  his  chief  minister,  wished  only  to  let 
England  exhaust  herself  by  a  long  civil  war.  American  ships 
were  received  in  Spanish  harbors,  and  every  remonstrance  was 
met  by  the  plea  that,  as  they  hoisted  British  colors,  their  real 
character  could  not  be  known.  Privateers  fitted  out  at  Salem, 
Cape  Ann,  and  Newburyport  hovered  off  the  rock  of  Lisbon 
and  Cape  St.  Vincent,  or  ventured  into  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  sure 
of  not  being  harmed  when  they  ran  into  Corimna  or  Bilbao: 
but  Gnmaldi  adhered  to  the  principle  that  nothing  could  be 
more  alarming  to  Spain  than  American  independence 

The  new  attitude  of  the  United  States  as  a  nation  changed 
the  nature  of  the_conflict  in  England.      The  friends  to  the 
nghtsof  Americans  as  fellow-subjects  were  not  as  yet  friends 
to  their  separate  existence;  and  all  parties  were  summoned,  as 
Enghshmen  tc  unanimity.     TJie  virtue  of  patriotism  is  more 
attractive  than  that  of  justice;  and  the  minority  opposed  to 
thegovernment,  dwindling  almost  to  nothing,  was  now  to  have 
against  them  king,  lords,  and  commons,  nearly  the  whole  body 
of  tlie  law,  the  more  considerable  part  of  the  landed  and  mer- 
cantile interests,  and  the  political  weight  of  the  church.     The 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  his  proclamation  for  a  fast,  to  be 
read  in  all  the  churches,  charged  the  "  rebel "  congress  ^^ath 
uttering  "specious  falsehoods;"  young  Jeremy  Bentham  re- 
jected the  case  of  the  insurgents  as  «  founded  on  th«  a-"mn- 
tion  of  natural  rights,  claimed  without  the  sliglitest~evMence 


11^ 


ii^ 


y 


rf-o 


\p 


V 


J' 


Vii 


ii 
''Ml 

m 

ill 

111 

III 


,t-ti 


I_ 


%i 


22 


AMERICA  IN   ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  CH.  1. 

grnetlitie?''*^'''''  '""'^  Bupported  by  vague  and  declamatory 

_      "Cau  Britain  fail?"  asked  the  poet-lanreate  of  England 
in  his  bn-t-hday  ode.     "  Every  man,"  said  the  wise  political 
economist  Tucker,  -is  thorouglily  convinced  tliat  the  colonies 
Avill  and  must  become  independent  some  time  or  other-  I  en- 
tirely agree  with  Franklin  and  Adams,  to  make  the  separation 

7    l!f  ."^^"''^  ^^^'  ^^'^  P^'"'^"*-"     ^^^^^  Ilume  from  his 
death-bed  advised  his  country  to  give  up  the  v^ar  with  Ameri- 
ca, in  which  defeat  would  destroy  its  credit,  and  success  its 
liberties..    "A  tough  business,  indeed,"  said  Gibbon;  ''they 
have  passed  the  Eubicon,  and  rendered  a  treaty  infinitely  more 
difficult ;  the  thinking  friends  of  government  are  by  no  means 
sanguine."     Lord  North  had  declared  his  intention  to  resign 
If  his  concihatoiy  proposition  should  fail.     Lord  George  Ger- 
main was  imbittered  against  the  admiralty  for  having  delayed 
the  embarkations  of  troops,  and  against  Carleton  for  his  lenity 
and  slo^vness.     "  I  have  my  own  opinions  in  respect  to  the  dis- 
putes in  America,"  said  Barrington,  the  British  secretary  at 
^var,  imploringly  to  the  king;  "I  am  summoned  to  meetings, 
where  I  sometimes  think  it  my  duty  to  declare  them  openly 
before  twenty  or  thirty  persons  ;  and  the  next  day  I  am  forced 
either  to  vote  contrary  to  them,  or  to  vote  with  an  opposition 
Avhich  I  abhor."     Yet,  when  the  king  chose  that  he  should 
remain  secretary  at  war  and  member  of  the  house  of  commons 
he  added:  « I  shall  continue  to  serve  your  majesty  in  both 
capacities.'     The  prospect  of  the  interference  of  France  ex- 
cited in  George  III.  such  restless  anxiety,  that  he  had  an  inter- 
view with  every  Englishman  of  distinction  who  returned  from 
1  aris  or  Yersailles  ;  and  he  was  impatient  to  hear  from  Ameri- 
ca that  General  Howe  had  struck  decisive  blows. 

The  conquest  of  the  United  States  presented  appalling  dif- 
ficulties. The  task  was  no  less  thm  to  recover  by  force  of 
arms  the  region  which  hes  between  Nova  Scotia  and  Florida- 
the  first  campaign  had  ended  in  the  expulsion  of  the  British 
from  New  England;  the  second  had  already  been  marked  by 
a  repulse  from  South  Carolina.  Tlie  old  system  of  tactics 
was  out  of  place;  iM',.ilQuld..the  ..capaQity  of  the  Americans 
tor  resistance  be  determined  by  any  known  rule  of  war  -  the 


CAN   THE  STATES  MAINTAIN  mDEPENDENOE? 


1776. 

23 

^^iLPl  tJHil^pas^^^^^^^^^^^         notJ,e.a  f^thoxnei;  thoy  Mill 
long  shun  an  open  battle-ffrouud  •  everv  th"i!Zr    •    "^ 

comfy  over  which  they  may  march  in  victory  wrricap  t 
their  rear.  Noth.ng  i,  harder  than  to  beat  down  a  peo  ,  o  wl  " 
are  resolved  never  to  vield  •  nnrl  ihc.  v     v  i         r^^r^e  wiio 


21        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep,  iv. ;  oh.  n. 


1 6    ^i! 


I' 


1  ; 


CHAPTER  II. 

the  retreat  from  long  island. 

August  1776. 

The  works  for  the  defence  of  New  York  Island,  including 
the  fortifications  in  Brooklyn,  had  been  planned  by  Lee  in 
concert  with  a  New  York  committee  and  a  committee  from 
congress.     Jay  thought  it  proper  to  lay  Long  Island  waste, 
bm-n  New  York,  and  retire  to  the  Highlands ;  but,  as  it  was 
the  maxim  of  congress  not  to  give  up  a  foot  of  territory, 
Washington  promised  "his  utmost  exertions  under  every  dis- 
advantage;" "the  appeal,"  he  said,  "may  not  terminate  so 
hajipily  as  I  could  wish,  yet  any  advantage  the  enemy  may 
gain  I  trust  wiU  cost  them  dear."    To  protect  New  York  city 
he  was  compelled  to  hold  King's  Bridge,  Governor's  Island, 
Paulus  Hook,  and  the  heights  of  Brooklyn.    For  all  these 
posts,  divided  by  water,  and  some  of  them  fifteen  miles  apart, 
he  had  in  the  first  week  of  August  but  ten  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  men  fit  for  duty.     Of  these,  many  were 
often  obliged  to  sleep  without  cover,  exposed  to  the  dews. 
There  was  a  want  of  good  physicians,  medicines,  and  hospi- 
tals; more  than  three  thousand  lay  sick,  and  their  number  was 
increasing. 

Of  the  effective  men,  less  than  six  thousand  had  had  any 
exiDerience,  and  none  had  seen  more  than  one  year's  service. 
Some  were  wholly  without  arms ;  not  one  regiment  of  infan- 
try was  properly  equipped.  The  regiment  of  artillery,  five 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  in  number,  including  ofiicers,  had 
no  skilled  gunners  or  engineers.  Knox,  its  colonel,  had  been 
a  Boston  bookseller.     Most  of  the  cannon  in  the  field-works 


SP,  IV.  ;  OH.  n. 


1778. 


THE  KETEEAT  FROM  LONG  ISLi^ND. 


25 

were  of  iron  old  and  honeycombed.    The  constant  arrival  and 
departure  of  mihtia  made  good  discipline  impossible     The 
govemnaent  of  New  Jersey  called  out  one  half  of  its  militia 
to  be  relieved  at  the  end  of  one  month  by  the  other  half  •  but 
the  caU  was  httle  heeded.     "We  shall  never  do  weU  unth t 
get  a  regular  army;  and  this  will  never  be  until  men  are  en- 
listed for  a  longer  duration;  and  that  will  never  be  mitil  we 
are  more  generous  in  our  encouragement.     Time  alone  will 
persuade  us  to  this  measure;  and  in  the  meanwhile  we  sha 
very  mdiscreetly  waste  a  much  greater  expense  than  would  be 
necessary  for  this  purpose,  in  temporary  calls  upon  the  militia! 
besides  risking  the  loss  of  many  lives  and  much  reputation." 
So  ^.Tote  John  Adams,  the  head  of  the  board  of  war     He 
rejected  the  thought  of  retiring  from  Long  Island,  inclined 
to  judge  an  army  capable  of  victory  when  orders  for  the  sup- 
ply of  men  and  their  equipment  had  gone  forth,  and  never 

Sr  .""f    ,  '^"  ^''''  '*  '''^'^^''^'    ™1«  iie  cultivated 
confidential  relations  .dth  Gates,  he  never  extended  cordid 

f  ankness  to  Washington,  never  comprehended  his  superior 

capacity  for  war,  nor  fairly  weighed  the  difficulties  bef ore\im 

Moreover,  congress  w^  assuming  the  conduct  of  the  campaign. 

amy,  but  refused  it  to  the  commander-in-chief.  The  general 
officers,  whose  advice  Washington  was  instructed  to  askf  knew 
ones  S  t)  ''*"  estimate  danger  rightly;  and  the  timid 
ones,  with  their  eyes  on  congress,  put  on  the  cheap  mask  of 
courage  by  spirited  votes.  ^ 

On  the  fifth  of  August,  Trumbull  wrote  from  Connecticut  • 
"Knowing  our  cause  righteous,  I  do  not  greatly  did  what 

sTereT«rtT"l"^  '^  ^^^^^^*  ^^''  ^-^-gton  - 
iZ.7  *  I  '*  '°  *^'  J"'*^'"  ^^  «^  ca^^se  without  our  own 
TXtTmZr'^'''  tempting  Providence;"  and  heT 

letter  T.  T 1  ""'"^'^''^  '^  ^'  ^^^^'  ^^  ^'^'^^^S  this 
^tter,  TrumbuU  convened  his  council  of  safety.     Five  re J^ 

ments  from  the  counties  of  Connecticut  nearest  New  York  hfd 

ah-eady  been  sent  forward;  he  called  out  nine  regiments  more 

and  to  those  not  enrolled  in  any  train-band  he  said-^ToTn 

torm  joui.clves  into  distinct  companies,  and  choose  captains 


;! 


V 


26         AMr.iuCA  IX  ALUAXCE  WITH  FRANCE.    KP.,v.;cH.n. 

^fortlnvith  March  on:  this  shall  be  jour  warrant;  may  the 
God  of  tlie  armies  of  Israel  bo  your  leader."  At  these  words 
the  hm.iers-tliougli  tlieir  harvest  was  but  half  gathered  their 
meadows  half  cut,  their  chance  of  return  in  season  to  sow  their 
gram  before  winter  uncertain-rose  in  arms,  fonning  nine 
regiments  each  of  three  hundred  and  tiity  men,  and  self- 
ecpipped,  marched  to  New  York,  just  in  time  to  meet  the 
advance  of  the  British.  True,  thty  were  rather  a  rally  of  free- 
men than  a  division  of  an  anny ;  but  their  spirit  evinced  the 
existence  of  a  nation. 

^  In  New  York  the  country  people  turned  out  .vith  surpris- 
mg  a  acrity,  leaving  their  grain  to  perish  for  want  of  the  sickle. 
The  body  suddenly  levied  in  New  York,  the  nine  regiments 
from  Connecticut,  the  Maryland  regiment  and  companies,  a 
regiment  from  Delaware,  and  two  more  battalions  of  Pennsyl- 
vaina  nflemen,  raised  the  number  of  men  fit  for  duty  under 
Washington's  command  to  about  seventeen  thousand;  but 
most  of  them  were  fresh  from  rustic  labor,  iU-armed  or  not 
armed  at  all. 

The  New  York  convention  desired  that  the  command  of 
the  Hudson  might  be  secured ;  and,  on  the  recommendation  of 
I  utnam  and  Mifflin,  a  fort  was  buiU  on  the  height  now  known 
as  Fort  Washington,  two  miles  and  a  half  below  King's  Bridge 
Of  the  batteries  by  which  New  York  was  protected,  the 
most  nnportant  was  the  old  Foit  George  on  the  south  point 
01-  the  island ;  a  barrier  crossed  Broadway  near  the  Bowling 
Green  ;  a  redoubt  was  planted  near  the  river,  west  of  Trinity 
church  ;  another,  that  took  the  name  of  Bunker  IJill,  near  the  ' 
site  of  the  present  Centre  Market.     Earthworks  were  thrown 
lip  here  and  there  along  the  East  and  Hudson  rivers  within 
the  settled  parts  of  the  town,  and  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
island,  on  hills  overlooking  King's  Bridge;  but  many  inter- 
mediate points,  favorable  for  landing,  were  defenceless.     The 
regiment  of  Prescott,  who  commanded  in  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  and  one  other  regiment,  were  all  that  could  be  spared  to 
garrison  Governor's  Island. 

The  American  hues  in  Brooklyn,  including  angles,  and 
four  redoubts  which  mounted  twenty  large  and  small  cannon, 
ran  for  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Wallabout  bay  to  the  marsh  of 


1776. 


THE  RETREAT  FROM  LONG   ISLAND. 


at 

Gowanu8  cove ;   they  were  defended  by  ditches  and   m.A 

works  ''"'  '^'"1^^^^  ^^^  S^-^^*  extent  of 

British  reinforcements  arrived  with  Clinton  and  Cnm 
wa  hs  on  the  first  of  August,  and  eleven  days  1  Ir  more  th^' 
twenty-five  Imndrod  British  troops  from  England,  17  mo^ 
than  eighty-six  hundred  Hessians.  Sir  Peter^ParL  broult 
Campbell  and  Dunmore,  who,  with  Tryon  and  SaSn  Zed 
from  victory  their  reflfni'Btfnn  t„  n    •  "  Juiiuii,  aopea 

flfteentl,  ti,„  ir      '^'"°™°''  *«  *'«"•  governments.    On  the 
mteeuth  the  Iloss.ans,  who  were  in  excellent  health  after  their 
ong  voyage,  landed  on  Staten  Ishnd.    Before  a  onfa  L„4 
Howe  once  more  proposed  the  often  rejected  plan ;  and  T^h 

same  da,  wrote  frankly  ttt  r^'nld  L"  I" S  Jr^::^ 
ven  ae  landing  „f  the  British  on  Long  Island! saW-"^: 

feve,      t1,„  ,         - '    ""  '™'  '^'■'^''■"' '«'»™  i"  of  a  raging 

^^bU;:  'c  h°;enn„ird:ri::r tnd-  f •  "^  r* 

of-i'mredZtr™-!^"'  thetwonty.econd  the  men- 
landing  of  morTianH":,"  '^''"^'''''''^  '^"J'  '»  P^^e' ^e 

The  ^H^rrnf tTe  nixzti^hT"  nr°  '^""■^• 

stretches  tmGn^lST'  f"  T\  "P»"  *^  '"^  """h 

thronged  by  Ltr  of  Ih^Tr^""  ■"""  «'''  "«»?  ™ 

lovalty  and       T  "'^glAorhood,  wearing  hadpis  of 

..alt,   and        Ling  p„t,„u„„^  ,^^jj^  ^,  K  of 


l!       ;i 


!    m 


38        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FPwVNCE.    ep.  iv. ;  on.  ii. 

flight,  driving  cattlo  before  them  and  burning  all  kinds  of 
forage.  Comwallis  with  the  reserve,  two  battaUons  of  infant- 
ry and  the  corps  of  Genuaus,  advanced  to  Flatbiish ;  Hand's 
Pennsylvania  rillemen  retired  before  hini,  burning  stacks  of 
wheat  and  hay  on  their  march;  the  British  artillery  drove  the 
Americans  from  their  Hhght  barrier  within  the  village  to  the 
wooded  heights  beyond. 

In  the  following  days,  during  which  Washington  divided 
his  time  between  Brooklyn  and  ]S"ew  York,  the  advanced  par- 
ties of  the  two  armies  encountered  each  other,  and  the  Ameri- 
can  riflemen  proved  their  superiority  as  skirmishers. 

On  the  twenty-fourth,  Israel  Putnam,  in  right  of  liis  rank 
as  second  to  Washington,  took  the  command  on  Long  Island, 
but  with  explicit  instructions  to  guard  the  passes  through  the 
woods;  while  the  New  York  congress  sent  independent  orders 
to  Woodhull,  a  provincial  brigadier,  to  drive  off  the  horses, 
horned  cattle,  and  sheep,  and  destroy  the  forage  which  would 
otherwise  have  fallen  to  the  enemy. 

On  the  twenty-flfth,  two  more  brigades  of  Hessians  with 
Heister  came  over,  and  on  the  next  day  reached  Flatbush,  in- 
creasing the  rank  and  file  with  Howe  on  Long  Island  to  "  up- 
Avnrd  of  twenty  thousand  "  ;  *  supported  in  the  bay  by  more  thi.n 
four  hundred  ships  and  transports,  by  ten  ships  of  the  line 
and  twenty  frigates,  beside  bomb-ketches  and  other  small  ves- 
sels. The  Americans,  after  repeated  reinforcements,  were 
no  more  than  eight  thousand  men,t  most  of  whom  were  volun- 

*  Correct  Howe's  Narrative,  p.  45,  where  he  said  lie  had  upon  Long  Island 
between  fifteen  tlioii^aiul  ami  .qxtcen  thousand  rank  and  file,  and  that  his  wholo 
force  consisted  of  twenty  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  (20,121)  rank  and 
file,  of  which  sixteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven  (1,677)  were  sick.  On  August 
twenty-seventh,  1770,  his  rank  and  file  amounted  to  twenty-four  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-seven  (24,217),  apart  from  the  royalist  force  under  Brigadier 
Do  Lancey.  MS.  returns  of  the  army  of  Howe  from  the  British  state  paper  office. 
This  is  confirmed  by  Sir  George  Collier's  report  in  Naval  Chronicle,  xxxii.,  271. 

t  This  statement  of  the  American  force  is  made  after  an  examination  of  all 
the  returns  which  I  could  find.  The  rodomontade  of  Howe,  Almon's  Debates,  xi., 
849,  is  repeated  by  Stedmiin.i..  101.  In  1779  Lord  Cornwallis,  answering  be'fore 
the  British  house  of  conunons  as  a  witness,  says :  "  It  was  reported  they  (the 
Americans)  had  six  or  eight  thousand  men  on  Long  Island,"  Almon's  Debates, 
xiii.,  9.  General  Robertson  estimates  them  at  seven  thousand,  Almon,  xiii.,  314. 
Montresor  at  eight  to  ten  thousand,  Almon,  xiii.,  54.  Of  these  Cornwallis  is  the 
most  trustworthy  \'  itness. 


me. 


THE  RETREAT   FROM  LONG  ISLAND. 


29 


tccrs  or  militia,  with  not  a  platoon  of  cavalrv     Tl.« 
were  k3pt  ,,>art  b,  the  rid /which  ruLT  i^H  W  S 
to  the  sou  h-west,  and,  at  the  distance  of  twotules  from  th« 
i^menean  hnes,  throu-s  out  to  the  north  and'u^'lTerie 
of  hills,  as  so  many  buttresses  against  the  bnv      n,       !t 
densely  wooded  heights,  which  werlon  ..Tt   ^         i    '' 

cMofl,  V  Connecticut  levies  andl^f^^f  pir^X^ 
The  number  of  the  Americans  stationed  on  tLe  coZoad  Z 
"rCd^f  ""  '"-^  *"''  ^^  -tended  waslCulT; 

cans  by  the  Jamaica  road;  but  that  road  was  neglected 

if  he  h!/b"i  r   ""'*  "^  ^™™'  Howe  was  I  e  abom.e  as 

J  trfNlTrT'^^™"''"'  Highlande™,  and  t™ C: 

st^lrf^Gowlnrtf  •  T '" "''™"""'  "p»  '"^  -»" 

stationed  half  alne  ^  Lnt  0"^^°  '"^;!"  ""  ^•"«^"> 

army,  unde    CliSon    P  ^r'^'''^  '^''  ^''^''  ^'^^  ^^  ^^e 

fie^iecetleait^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  eighteen 

from  Flatlands  JvlT^  equipage  behind,  moved 

f^-n  ^^Mt'Tl  «<^"^tiy  through  the  New  Lot.,  t^ 

^iiu  left  ui  che  American  outposts.      " 


mi 


u 


ffii 


iHS 


i 


30        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  en.  ii. 

At  three  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-seventh,  Putnam 
was  told  that  the  picket  which  guarded  the  approach  to  the 
coast-road  had  been  driven  in ;  and,  without  further  inquiry,  he 
ordered  Stirhng,  then  a  brigadier,  with  two  regiments  nearest 
at  hand,  "  to  advance  beyond  tlie  lines  and  repulse  the  enemy." 
The  two  regiments  were  the  large  and  well-equipped  one  of 
Delaware,  and  that  of  Maryland,  which  was  composed  of  the 
sons  of  freeholders  and  men  of  property  from  Baltimore  and 
its  neighborhood.     Of  both,  the  colonels  and  lieutenant-colo- 
nels chanced  to  be  absent  on  duty  in  New  York  city.     They 
were  followed  by  a  regiment  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  men 
from  Connecticut,  under  the  lead  of  Pai-sons,  a  lawyer  of  tbat 
state,  who  eighteen  days  before  had  been  raised  from  the  bar 
to  the  rank  of  brigadier.     Putnam's  rash  order  directed  Stir- 
ling to  stop  the  approach  of  a  detachment  which  might  have 
been  "  ten  times  his  number."     The  position  to  which  he  was 
sent  was  dangerous  in  the  extreme,     llis  course  was  oblique, 
inclining  to  the  right ;  and  this  movement,  relinquishing  the 
direct  communication  with  the   camp,  placed  in  his  rear  a 
marsh  extending  on  both  sides  of  Gowanus  creek,  which  was 
scarcely  fordable  even  at  low  tide,  and  was  crossed  by  a  bridge 
and  a  causeway  that  served  as  a  dam  for  one  of  two  tide- 
mills  ;  on  his  left  he  had  no  connecting  support ;  in  front  he 
had  to  encoimter  Grant's  division,  which  outnumbered  hhn 
four  to  one ;  and  on  his  right  was  the  bay,  commanded  by 
the  fleet  of  Lord  Howe.     About  where  now  runs  Nineteenth 
street  in  Brooklyn,  he  formed  his  line  along  a  ridge  from  the 
left  of  the  road  to  woods  on  a  height  now  enclosed  within  a 
cemetery  and  known  as  Battle  Hill.     Two  field-pieces,  all  that 
he  had  to  oppose  against  ten,  were  placed  on  the  side  of  the 
Iiill  so  as  to  command  the  road  and  the  only  approach  for  some 
hundred  yards.     He  himself  occupied  the  right,  which  was  the 
point  of  greatePt  danger ;  Atlee  and  Kichline  formed  his  cen- 
tre ;  Parsons  commanded  the  left. 

Early  in  the  morning  Putnam  was  informed  tliat  infantry 
and  cavalry  were  advancing  on  the  Jamaica  road.  He  gave 
Washington  no  notice  of  the  danger,  sent  Stirling  no  order 
to  retreat ;  but  Sullivan  went  out  with  a  small  party,  and  took 
command  of  the  regiments  of  Henshaw  and  Johuaton. 


1776.        .     THE  KETREAI  FROM  LONG  ISLAND.  31 

The  snn  rose  with  an  angry  red  glare,  forehoding  a  change 
of  weather;  the  hrst  object  seen  from  New  York  wasthe 
squadron  of  Sir  Peter  Parker  attempting  to  sail  up  the  bit 
;  to  attack  the  town;  but,  the  wind  veering  to  the  north^rf 
It  eame  to  anchor  at  the  change  of  tide,  and  the  EoeS 
was  the  only  ship  that  fetched  hi^h  enough  to  exchano^  shot 
v-ith  the  battery  at  Bed  Hook.  Mevod  from  appreLltn 
of  an  attack  on  the  city,  Washington  repaired  to  UngM^- 
but  he  rode  through  the  lines  only  in  time  to  witness  disaters' 
which  were  become  inevitable.  "isasters 

The  van  of  the  British  army  under  Clinton,  guided  by 
tory  farmers  of  the  neighborhood,  having  capturei  f  patrol  of 
American  offleors  m  tiio  night,  gained  the  heights  on  the  fli^st 
appearance  of  day.    Tlie  force  with  Howe,  after  passing  them 
without  obstnictiou,  and  halting  to  give  the  soldie«  tile  Z 
refreshment  renewed  its  march.    At  half-past  eight,  or  a  httle 
ater.  It  reached  Bedford,  in  the  real-  of  the  American  left,  ^ 
the  signal  was  given  for  a  general  attack.    At  this  moment 
about  four  thousand  Americans  were  on  the  wooded  passes  in 
advance  of  the  Brooklyn  lines.     They  were  attacked  by  the 
largest  British  army  whicli  appeared  hi  the  field  during  Z 
«ai.    Could  the  Amenean  parties  have  acted  together,  the 
disproportion  would  yet  have  been  more  than  Ave  to  one ;  to 
a>  they  were  routed  in  a  succession  of  skirmishes,  Ae  d I'sp m.' 

exteme  Wt  r,^?'°  be  calculated.  The  regiments  on  ttt 
extieme  left  did  not  perceive  their  danger  till  the  British  bad 
umed  their  flank ;  they  were  the  first  to  fly,  and  they  reached 
the  hues,  though  not  without  grievous  losst  Tbe're;  ^ 
of  Ward  of  Connecticut,  which  made  its  way  seasonably  by  the 
m  -pond,  burned  the  bridge  as  it  passed,  unmindful  of  te 
comrades  whom  they  left  behind. 

When  the  camionading  from  the  main  army  and  the  bri 
gadcs  under  Grant  „™  heard,  the  Hessians  m^ov,^  '  a" 
a  1™.  W-.'-nl-  IJonop  and  some  volunteers  g,  ngt 
advance  as  flanking  parties  and  clearing  the  way  with  the  r 
sraal  cannon;  the  battalions  followed,  with  a  widely   xteuT 

At  hist,  bulhvan's  party  fired  with  nervo^  ^Jm,.  and    o-^ 
^ib'I.,  doing  little  injury;  then,  becoming  ..Ll'Z'Z 


i-t  1 


r,i  i 


f  i 
'in 


V  I KTwt 


t 


(!  mn 


32        AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRAXCE.    ep..iv.  ;  on.  n. 

ger  on  their  flanlc  and  rear,  tliey  turned  to  retreat.     Tlie  Hes- 
sians took  possession  of  their  deserted  redoubt,  its  three  brass 
six-pounders,   one   howitzer,   and   two   baggage-wagons,   and 
chased  the  fugitives  relentlessly  through  the  thickets.     The 
Americans,  stopped  on  their  way  by  British  regiments,  were 
thrown  back  upon  the  Hessians.     For  a  long  time  the  forest 
nmg  with  the  cries  of  the  pursuers  and  the  pursued,  the  noise 
of  musketry  and  artillery,  the  notes  of  eonnnand  given  by 
trumpets  and  hautboys;   the  ground   was   strewn  with  the 
wounded  and  the  dead.     The  Jersey  militia  fought  well,  till 
Johnston,  their  colonel,  was  shot  in  the  breast,  after  showing 
_the  most  determined  courage.     Sullivan,  seeing  himself  su?- 
rounded,  desired  his  men  to  shift  for  themselves.     Some  of 
them,  fighting  with  desperate  valor,  cleaved  a  passage  through 
the  British  to  the  American  lines ;  others,  breaking  into  small 
parties,  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  from  which  they  escaped 
to  the  lines,  or  were  picked  up  as  prisoners.     Sullivan  was 
found  by  three  Hessian  grenadiers,  hiding  in  a  field  of  maize. 
The  contest  was  over  at  the  east  and  at  the  centre.     Xear 
the  l)ay  Stii-ling  still  maintained  his  position.     Lord  Howe, 
having  learned  that  Grant's  division,  which  halted  at  the  edge 
of  the  woods,  was  in  want  of  ammunition,  went  himself  with 
a  supply  from  his  ship,  sending  his  boat's  crew  with  it  on 
theii-  backs  up  the  hill,  while  further  supplies  followed  from 
the  store-ships.     Early  in  the  day  Parry,  lieutenant-colonel 
under  Atlee,  was  shot  in  the  head  as  he  was  encouraging  his 
men.     Parsons  left  his  men,  concealed  himself  in  a  "swamp, 
and  came  into  camp  the  next  morning  by  way  of  tho  East 
rriver.    His  party  were  nearly  all  taken  prisoners ;  au)(>ng  them 
\  Jewett  of  Lyme,  captain  of  volunteers,  who  after  his  surrender 
was  run  through  the  body  by  the  officer  to  whom  he  gave  up 
\Jii8  sword. 

None  remained  in  the  field  but  Stirling,  with  the  regiment 
of  Mai-yland  and  that  of  Delaware.  For  neai-ly  foui^  hours 
they  stood  in  their  ranks  with  colors  flying,  when,  perceiving 
the  main  body  of  the  British  army  rapidly  coming  behind  hini^ 
he  gave  them  the  word  to  reti-eat.  They  withdrew  in  perfect 
order;  twenty  marines  were  brought  off  as  prisoners.  The 
only  avenue  of  escape  was  l)y  wading  through  (Jowanus  creek ; 


..IV, ;  on.  II, 

The  Iles- 
hrce  brass 
jons,   and 
ets.    The 
mts,  were 
;he  forest 
the  noise 
given  by 
with  the 
well,  till 
'  showing 
aself  6ur- 
Soiue  of 
)  through 
nto  small 
r  escajied 
ivan  was 
f  maize. 
e.    Xear 
[1  Howe, 
the  edge 
self  with 
th  it  on 
ed  from 
t-colonel 
^ging  his 
swamp, 
:he  East 
iig  them 
irrender 
gave  up 


ognnent 
ir  hours 
I'ceiving 
nd  him, 
perfect 
3.  The 
?  creek ; 


1776. 


THE  RETREAT  FROM  LONG  ISLAA'D, 


33 

and  this  passage  was  almost  cut  off  by  troons  imrl..  n 
warns  StWIng  „™t  LoM  Con^.m.  in^fX"!  „ 
lost ;  Ke  ordered  tl.e  Bolawaro  regimeat  and  one  half  ZIZ 
oi  Maryland  o  make  the  best  of  their  way  across  tl  o  mml 
and  creek,  ,vb.le  he  confronted  the  advancing  Br  tih^h 
only  five  companies  of  Maryland™.  The  yonifg  soldi!  flew 
at  the  enemy  with  "  nnpaialleled  bravery,  in  vimv  of  i  1  Z 
Amcr^an  generals  and  troops  within  the  Les,  whlalteraatdv 

hTeth^^ed'.'"  r'T-;,    ^-^^  ™"=-  '-"-d    - 
WP'    ^v^       "%  God!  what  brave  men  nnrst  I  this  day 

the  onset  In  this  manner  ten  minutes  were  gained  so  ri„t 
he  men  of  Delaware  with  their  prisoners,  and  half  the  W 
and  regiment  passed  the  creek.  The  devoted  men  who  S 
saved  them  were  beaten  back  by  masses  of  troops,  and  cut  to 
pieces  or  aken;  only  nine  of  them  sneceedcd  /n 'crossing  th! 
cieek,     Stirling  gave  up  his  sword  to  Ileistcr 

During  the  engagement  a  British  column  drew  near  the 
American  hues ;  could  they  have  been  carried,  all  the  Lorf! 
can  troops  on  Long  Island  must  have  surrendered;  buTthe 
works  were  protected  by  an  abattis,  and  their  defeuderwem 
lengthened  by  three  regiments,  jurt  arrived  from  ^t" 

to  withdraw  from  the  reach  of  musketry.  / 

Of  tlie  British,  at  the  least  five  oificera  and  fiftv  =;,.  „« 
were  killed,  twelve  officer  and  two  hrdrel  and  f™.v  fi 

oueis.    Much  more  than  one  half  of  this  loss  fell  uDonriiP 
roops  who  successively  encountered  Stiriing     O    the  II« 

s*ro'f^*f  '-r^'  ^™-  res  th  :t 

luonsanrl,  ot  whom  three  fourths  wore  iirisoners. 

Ine  extent  of  the  disasters  of  tiie  dav  was  due  t„  tl,„  • 
caj«city  of  W,  Pntuan,  who  suffcreT  1™^  %„  ^"J] 
pnscd;  and,  havrng  sent  Stirling  „ud  -Hbe  flower  of  the  Lie": 


if 


i      I 


ViP?'.M 


iC.^ 


84        AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    2P.iv.;oH.n. 

can  army"  into  the  most  dangerous  position  into  wliicli  brave 
men  could  have  been  thi-own,  neglected  to  countermand  his 
ordei-s.  The  Hessians,  who  received  the  surrender  of  SulH- 
van,  Stirling,  and  more  than  half  the  captives,  made  no  boast 
of  having  routed  disconnected  groups  of  ill-armed  mUitia. 

A  bleak  north-easterly  wind  sprang  up  at  evenino-.  The 
British  army,  whose  tents  had  not  yet  been  brought  up,  slept 
m  front  of  the  lines  at  Brooklyn,  wrapped  in  blankets  and 
warmed  by  fires.  Of  the  patriot  army  many  passed  the  night 
without  shelter.  Their  dead  lay  unburied  in  the  forest;  The 
severely  wounded  languished  where  they  fell.  The  captives 
were  huddled  together  in  crowded  rooms  or  prison-ships,  cut 
ott  from  good  air  and  wholesome  food,  and  suiiered  to  waste 
away  and  die. 

The  next  morning  was  chill  and  lowering.     Unable  to  rely 
on  either  of  his  major-generals,  Washington,  at  the  break  of 
day,  renewed  the  inspection  of  the  American  works,  which 
from  their  great  extent  left  many  points  exposed.     The  British 
encampments  appeared  large  enough  for  twenty  thousand  men; 
wlierever  he  passed,  he  encouraged  the  soldiers  to  engage  in 
continual  skirmishes.     During  the  morning  Mifflin  brought 
over  from  New  York  a  reinforcement  of  nearly  one  thousand 
men,  composed  of  Glover's  regiment  of  Massachusetts  fisher- 
men  and  the  Pennsylvania  regiments  of  Shee  and  Mao-aw 
which  were  "the  best  disciplined  of  any  in  the  anny."     Their 
arrival  was  greeted  with  cheers.     In  the  afternoon  rain  feU 
heavily ;  the  lines  were  at  some  places  so  low  that  men  em- 
ployed m  the  trenches  stood  in  water;  provisions  could  not  be 
regularly  served,  and  whole  regiments  had  nothing  to  eat  but 
raw  pork  and  bread ;  but  their  commander-in-chief  was  among 
them,  exposing  himself  more  than  any  one  to  the  storm,  and 
tlie  sight  of  their  general,  enduring  hardships  equally  with 
themselves,  reconciled  them  to  their  sufferings.    For  eight-and- 
forty  hours  he  gave  no  moment  to  sleep,  and  for  nearly  all  that 
time,  by  night  and  by  day,  was  on  horseback  in  the  lines. 

The  British  commander-in-chief,  General  Sir  William 
Howe  by  illegitimate  descent  an  uncle  to  the  king,  was  of  a 
very  different  cast  of  mind.  Six  feet  tall,  of  an  uncommonly 
dai-k  complexion,  a  coarse  frame,  and  a  slujrffish  mould,  bo 


1776. 


THE  EETKEAT  PROM  LONG  ISLASD. 


35 
™ce,,mbed  mresistingly  to  Ws  sensnd  mt„ro.    He  was  „„, 

partly  because  he  professed  to  be  Til,     ,°v.''^  •™»' 
became  „e  neve,  'i.djf  X,:j't   -^^rS 

in   moments  of  high  excitemprif    h.         T.f  '  '^"t' except 
alertness  and  sagacify    He  W^l    '  "'"'  ^''^r^''   ™«°g 
at  being  ^orJCl^.^^^  ^^f  ^"--;  ^d^ffi  ^ ^^^^^^ 
and  gained  ]um  the  reputation  of  bl l  rantw  ^^       '"''^'^ 
Indolence  was  bis  biriP  •  nnf      -irii      ^^"^^^^^  ^^^  morose. 

mce ;  b.,t  be  was  not  so  m„„h  rapacious  as  Ls    i  1  „  Te  ta 

^i'riy  s;able'7^s:«'*  -« ^'"^«*"« 

be  insensible  to  dangorbko  1  Leif  in  r  ™''  ''P''""'''  "> 
willing  they  sbonld  4enly  L^^'  Igltin::^!™ 
pie  led  .nany  of  the  young  to  nin  tb^nscCb;.  ^li  1  ""'• 
Pur^seX    °":,"'^  "«'■*  ^^-'""Ston,  who  waf  fixed\  the 

E,  7,     '■'  «'""^'  '"'*»■''"  l^'^P'  wateh  over  the 

iHitisn  army  and  bis  own      Tti  Pii^-i^.i  i  i-  "*li    me 

Thursday  sliowed  him  tluttheB^^^^^^ 
irance  ot  the  Lntish  fleet  mto  the  East  river.    J- 


m 


'as  no 


longer 


I  f 


Iff 


Hi    i| 


I 


mi 


lii 


^'  i     ' 


86         AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANOE.    EP.iv.jon.ii. 

safe  to  delay  a  retreat,  of  wliicli  tlie  success  would  depend  on 
preparing  for  it  with  impenetrable  secrecy. 

Tlirough  Mifflin,  in  whom  he  confided  more  than  in  any 
general  on  the  island  and  who  agreed  with  him  in  opinion, 
he  despatched,  at  an  early  hour,  a  written  command  to  Heath' 
at  Kmg's  Bridge,  "to  order  every  flat-bottomed  boat  and  other 
craft  at  his  post,  fit  for  transporting  troops,  down  to  Kew  York 
as  soon  as  possible,  without  the  least  delay."*    In  like  manner 
before  noon,  he  sent  Trumbull,  the  commissary-general,  to 
^w  lork,  with  orders  for  Hugh  Hughes,  the  assistant  quar- 
termaster-general,  « to  impress  every  kind  of  water-craft,  on 
either  side  of  New  York,  that  could  be  kept  afloat,  and  had 
either  oars  or  sails,  or  could  be  furnished  with  them,  and  to 
have  them  all  in  the  East  river  by  dark."t 

These  orders  were  issued  so  secretly  that  not  even  his 
general  officers  knew  his  purpose.     All  day  long  he  continued 
abroad  in  the  wind  and  rain,  visiting  the  stations  of  his  men  as 
before.     Not  till  "late  in  the  day "^  did  he  meet  his  council 
of  war  at  the  house  of  Philip  Livingston  on  Brooklyn  Heights 
Ihe  abrupt  proposal  to  retreat  startled  John  Morin  Scott 
who,_  against  his   better  judgment,  impulsively  objected  to 
giving  the  enemy  a  single  inch  of  ground."     But  unanswer- 
able reasons  were  urged  in  favor  of  Washington's  desicm-  the 
Americans  were  invested  by  an  army  of  much   mo?e  than 
double  their  number  from  water  to  water;  Macdougall,  whose 
nautical  experience  gave  weight  to  his  words,  declared  "  that 
they  were  liable  every  moment,  on  the  change  of  wind,  to  have 
the  communication  between  them  and  tlie  city  cut  off  by  the 
British  frigates;"  their  supplies  were  scant;  the  rain,  which 
had  fallen  for  two  days  and  nights  with  little  intermission,  had 
injured  their  arms  and  spoiled  a  great  part  of  their  ammuni- 
tion ;  the  soldiery,  of  whom  many  were  without  cover  at  night 
were  worn  out  by  incessant  duties  and  watching.     The  resolu- 
tion to  retreat  was  therefore  unanimous. 

To  conceal  the  design  to  the  very  last,  the  regiments  after 
dark  were  ordered  to  prepare  for  attacking  the  enemy  in  the 

*  Heath's  Memoirs  by  himself,  67.     For  the  order,  see  Force,  American  Ar. 
Ch,ves  F.fth  .orios,  i.,  1211.  +  Memorial  of  Hugh  Uugh.,  3     etc 

I  John  Morin  «cott  to  J.  Jay,  C  September  iV76.     MS.  ^      '      > 


1776.  THE  EETKEAT  FROM  LONG  ISLAND,  37 

night;  several  of  the  Boldiere  published  to  their  comrades  their 
m>wntteo  ,^l,s;  but  the  true  pun,„se  was  soon  surWd     I 
eight  o  clock  llacdougall  was  at  Brooklyn  ferry,  charged  To 
supenntend  the  embarkation;   and  Glover  of  Mksaehfsette 
w,.i  h,s  regunout  of  Esse,  county  fishermen,  the  best  JS 
m  the  world,  manned  the  saihug-vessels  and  tlat-boats.    The 
rawest  roops  were  the  ii,^t  to  be  embarked;  Mifflin,  with  the 
Pcnnsylvama  regiments  of  Hand,  Magaw,  and  Shco  the  men 
of  Delaware,  and  the  remnant  of  the  Harylanders,  claimed  the 
honor  of  being  the  last  to  leave  the  hues.     About  nine  the  ebb 
of  the  tide  was  accompanied  by  a  heavy  rain  and  the  continued 
advei^e  wind,  so  that  for  three  hoiu.  the  sail-boats  could  do 

,!;   ,,       "r  J  ™      '  "'*''-«'"  ™'d.  which  had  raged  for 
three  days,  died  away;  the  water  became  so  smooth  that  the 
row-boats  could  be  laden  nearly  to  the  gunwales ;  and  a  b  e  ze 
spnmg  up  from  the  south  and  south-wit,  swelliL  the  eanval 
from  the  nght  quarter.    It  was  the  night  of  tlie^ull  mo™ 
the  British  were  so  nigh  that  they  were  heard  with  their  piet 
a^s  and  shovels  ;  yet  neither  Agnew,  their  general  officer  for 
the  mght,  nor  any  one  of  them,  took  notice  o^  the  murmur  b 
the  camp,  or  the  plash  of  oars  on  the  river,  or  the  ripple  under 
the  sail-boats.    All  night  long  mshington  wa.  riding  h™,! 
he  camp,  insuring  the  regidarity  of  every  movement.    Some 
tune  before  dawn  on  Friday  mormng  Mifflin,  thniugh  a  ml 
fake  of  orders,  began  to  march  the  covering  paily  to  the 
ferry;  TTashington  discovered   and  countermlded  tU  Z 
ma^ire  movement.     The  order  to  resume  their  posts  w^a 
to^ng  tes    of  young  soldici. ;  the  regiments  wheeled  abou 
u-ith  precision,  and  recovered  their  former  station  before  2e 
enemy  perceived  that  it  had  been  relinquished.    M  ZZ 
proae lied,  a  th  ek  fog  rolled  in  from  the  sea,  shrouded  Z 

wUhotr";  "•'  ^^°^y-'  -d  '"'"8  over'  the  Eat  rife 
w  thout  euvelopmg  New  York.     When  every  other  regiment 

mte  -edl  bo,f  T  "     "'"■     ^-'^'  ■"»"  "*  »"'  Washington 

he   la™  tl^,   [  \°*  ""'-    ^'  *»"■■'  """'■■<'«>•  l".-"!  given 
---rs  el..prf.d  before  he  and  a  corporal,  with  six  men,  clam- 


■'    ^} 


88        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  ly. ,  ch.  ii. 

bered  into  the  works,  only  to  find  them  evacuated.  The  whole 
Amencan  army  who  were  on  Long  Island,  with  their  provi- 
sions, military  stores,  field-artillery,  and  ordnance,  except  a  few 
worthless  iron  cannon,  landed  safely  in  New  York 

"Considering  the  difiicnlties,''  wrote  Greene,  "the  retreat 
from  Long  Island  was  the  best  effected  retreat  I  ever  read  or 
heard  of."  * 

*  Correct  the  thoroughly  perverse  account  of  the  retrent  from  Long  Island  by 
he  biographer  of  Joseph  Reed.    Reed's  Reed,  i.,  221to  226.    The  main  author! 
ity  of  the  biographer  for  his  statement  is  a  paper  purporting  to  be  a  letter  from 
an  old  man  of  e.ghty-four,  just  three  days  before  his  death,  when  he  was  too  ill  to 
wr, to  a  letter  or  to  sign  his  name,  or  even  to  make  his  mark,  and  yet,  as  is  pre- 
tended, able  to  detail  the  substance  of  conversations  held  by  the  moribund  fiftv. 
..X  years  before,  with  Colonel  Grayson  of  Virginia,  ten  or  eleven  years  after  the 
retreat  from  Long  Island,  to  which  the  conversations  referred.     Uis  story  turns 
on  a  change  of  wind,  which  he  represents  as  having  taken  place  before  the  coun- 
cil  of  war  was  called ;  now  no  such  change  of  wind  took  place  before  the  council 
of  war  met,  as  appears  from  their  unanimous  testimony  at  the  time.    (Proceed- 
mgs  of  a  council  of  war  held  August  29,  1776,  at  head-quarters  in  Brooklyn, 
printed  by  Onderdonk,  161,  and  in  Force's  Archives,  fifth  series  i    1246  ) 

Tlie  lifting  of  the  fog  on  the  twenty-ninth,  and  consequent  sight  of  the  British 
flee,  forms  the  pivot  of  the  biographer's  attribution  of  soecial  merit  to  Colonel 
Keed.    But  the  accounts  of  contemporaries  all  a-ree  that  the  fog  did  not  rise  till 
the  morning  of  the  thirtieth.     Boston  Independent  ChronJcle  of  September  19 
1/76:     At  sunrise  "on  the  thirtieth.     Benjamin  Tallmadge's  Memoirs,  10,  11  • 
As  the  dawn  of  the  day  .-.  reached,  a  very  dense  fog  began  to  ri.e."    Gordon's 
H.Story,  n.,  314,  English  edition  of  1788  :  "  A  thick  fog  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.       Gordon  wrote  from  the  letters  of  Glover,  and  the  information  of  oth- 
era  who  were  present.    Note  to  the  Thanksgiving  sermon  of  Dr.  John  Rogers  of 
IScwYork,  delivered  in  New  York,  December  11,  1783,  and  printed  in°1784- 
.Not  long  after  day  broke,  a  heavy  fog  rose."     Graydon  mentions  the  fo-  as  of 
the  morning  of  the  thirtieth.    Compare  Henry  Onderdonk's  Revolutionary  Inci- 
dents m  Suffolk  and  King's  Counties,  158,  162. 

The  biographer  of  Reed  seems  not  to  have  borne  in  mind  the  wonderful  power 
of  secrecy  of  Washington,  in  which  he  excelled  even  Franklin.  That  Washing- 
ton was  aware  of  his  position  appears  from  his  allowing  himself  no  sleep  for 
eight-and-forty  hours  (Sparks,  iv.,  70),  and  from  his  account  that  his  own  deliberate 
policy  was  "to  avoid  a  general  action."  It  is  of  the  more  importance  to  set  this 
matter  right,  as  Washington  Irving  was  misled  by  the  error  of  Reed.  For  a  con 
cise  notice  of  the  retreat,  written  by  Joseph  Reed,  30  August  1776,  see  Sedgwick's 
Life  of  William  Livingston,  203. 


^r-i 


IT7«. 


TUE  PEOGBESS  OP  THE  HOWES. 


8» 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    PEOGBESS    OF    THE    HOWES. 

August  SO-Septembee  177C. 

Caee  sat  heavily  on  the  young  people,  who  were  to  he 

formed  to  fortitude  and  endeared  to  'after  ages  lyZ^Jtt 

w,thso™ws     I^rd  Howe  received  Sullivan  on  board  of  the 

Kagle  ^th  hospitable  courtesy,  approved  his  immediate  ex! 

change  for  General  Preseott  who  was  at  Philadelphia,  aTd 

then  spoke  so  strongly  of  his  own  diiBeulty  in  recomisi^^ 

congress  as  a  leg.,1  body,  and  yet  of  his  ampk  poweT  o  Zf 

a  way  for  he  redress  of  grievances,  that  thl  American  gene^ 

votateered  to  visit  Philadelphia  a,  a  go-between.     A  lew 

hou„  after  the  troops  passed  over  from  Long  Island  he  f^ 

owed  on  parole,  taking  no  minute  of  the  offer  which  he  wl 

t  ons.     The  Amencan  commander-in-chief  disapproved  his 
m™,  but  deemed  it  not  right  to  prohibit  by  miHt^y  au 
thority  an  appeal  to  the  civil  i»wer  "'ary  au 

Washington  withdrew  the  garrison  from  Governor's  Island 
Of  the  mhahtants  of  Long  Island,  some  from  choice  so  ^to 
escape  «.e  pnson-ship  and  ruin,  took  the  engagem  nT'o  Teg^ 

— y°of  alX'    "  ''•""'  ?"^"'  '"'-^^y  announced  fe 
necessity  of  another  cainpaigii.    In  his  report  of  the  events  on 

Long  Island  he  magnified  the  force  which  he  encountered  two 
or  three  times,  the  killed  and  wounded  eight  or  ten  times  Zl 

wa^i:rute?zrth:tTh-?bT""V""''°^'''""'^'' 

-i-tu  iixem  mat  tin,  public  safety  required  en- 


m 


i      i; 


40       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.jch.iil 

listmeuts  for  the  war;  the  defeat  on  Long  Island  had  impaired 
the  confidence  of  the  troops  in  their  officers  and  in  one  an- 
other; the  militia,  dismayed,  intractable,  and  i.npatient,  went 
on  by  Jialf-companies,  hy  companies,  and  ahnost  by  whole 
regmients  at  a  time.     The  necessity  for  abandoning  the  city 
ot  ^ew  York  was  so  imminent,  that  the  question  whether  its 
housc^  should  be  left  to  stand  as  winter-quarters  for  the  enemy 
would  "admit  of  but  little  time  for  deliberation."    Rufus  Put- 
nam, the  able  engineer,  reported  that  the  enemy,  from  their 
command  of  the  water,  could  land  at  any  point  between  the 
bay  and  Throg's  ]^cck ;  Greene  advised  a  general  retreat,  and 
tliat  the  city  and  its  suburbs  should  be  burnt. 

Wlien,  on  the  second  of  September,  Sullivan  was  intro- 
duced to  the  congress,  John  Adams  broke  out  to  the  member 
who  sat  next  him:  " Oh,  the  decoy-duck !  would  that  the  first 
bullet  from  the  enemy  in  the  defeat  on  Long  Island  had  passed 
tnrough  his  brain!"    In  delivering  his  message,  Sullivan  af- 
firmed that  Lord  Howe  said  «he  Avas  ever  against  taxing  us- 
that  AmcTica  could  not  be  conquered;  that  he  would  set  aside 
the  acts  of  parliament  for  taxing  the  colonies  and  changing  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts."     Congress  directed  Sullivan  to  re- 
duce  his  commmiication  to  writing.     He  did  so,  and  presented 
It  the  next  morning.    Its  pui-port  was  "that,  though  Lord 
Howe  could  not  at  present  treat  with  congress  as  such,  he  was 
very  desirous  as  a  private  gentleman  to  meet  some  of  its  mem- 
bei^  as  pnyate  gentlemen;  that  he,  in  conjunction  with  Gen- 
eral Howe,  had  full  powers  to  compromise  the  dispute  between 
Great  Britain  and  America ;  that  he  wished  a  compact  mi-ht 
be  se  tied  at  this  time;  that  in  case,  upon  conference,  they 
should  find  any  probable  ground  of  an  accommodation,  the  au- 
tJiority  of  congress  must  be  aftemard  acknowledged  " 

Congress  having  received  this  paper,  which  proposed  their 
own  abdication  and  the  abandonment  of  independence  and  of 
umon  proceeded  to  the  business  of  the  day.  In  committee  of 
the  whole,  they  took  into  consideration  the  unreserved  confes- 
sion of  Wa^ungton,  that  he  had  not  a  force  adequate  to  the 
defence  of  New  York,  and  they  decided  that  "it  should  in  no 
event  be  damaged,  for  they  had  no  doubt  of  being  able  to  re- 
cover It,  even  though  the  enemy  should  obtain  possession  of 


1770. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  HOWES. 


it  for  a  time^'    Thoy  orcloml  for  it.  defence  tl.roe  more  lat- 
to hons  from  V,:-ginia,  two  from  North  Carolina,  and  one  f«m 
Ehode  Mmd;  and  ti.ey invited  the  a«emblies  a^d  eln"nt"n" 
of  evep-  »t„te  north  of  Virginia  to  forward  all  possil,  e    id 
pUe^ril  "™  "°  ^''^°"'""™  enforcements  ill^^ased "he 

Ix>.d  Howe.  W.thersiwoi,,  with  a  very  great  majority  of  tho 
members,  looked  upon  it  as  an  insult.  "We  liave  1,,/,  It,  ! 
and  a  small  ishnd,"  said  Rash,  "  but  we  iJe  I  X'. 

why  then  should  we  be  discouraged!  Or  why  should  we  be 
thseonragcd,  even  if  we  had  lost  a  state?  If  there  werTbut 
one  state  left,  still  that  one  should  peril  all  for  i„de~nco  » 
George  Eo^  sustained  his  eolleagne.  "  The  panic  may  s^fee 
whom  It  wJI"  wrote  John  Adams;  "it  shall  not  seize  mT-" 
nd,  hke  Rush  and  Withe,.poon,  he  spoke  vehemently  a„"an.t 
the  proposed  conference.  On  the  other  hand,  Edward  R^t^ 
ledge  favored  it,  aa  a  means  of  procrastin.ation ;  and  at  si 
New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  even  Virgin  a  gave  way 

to  deliver  to  Lord  Howe  a  written  "resolve,  that  the  eonm-ess 
being  the  representatives  of  the  free  and   ndependent Ttes 
of  America,  could  not  send  their  members  to  confer  w"h  £ 
m  theu-pnvatecharactei-s;  but,  ever  desirous  of  pea  eon  m 
sonable  terms,  they  would  send  a  committee  of  theh  bodv  to 

l7r";fr '^':"•' '°  '■^»"''*"  p™°ns:,.h:i*d 

oy  tliem,  and  to  hear  his  propositions."    On  the  sixth  th„ 
committee  wa,,  elected  by  ballot,  and  tho  choice        oTpnnk 
hn,  John  Adams,  and  Edward  Eutledge.    For  the  f^^^t^,ri; 

b!l!  ,  •  •^.  ""  *"'**  '*  '■<=<^«™'3  ™l>!ss  they  should 
be  made  m  wi-itmg,  and  should  recognise  the  authority  of  he 
States  in  congress.  "^ 

Washington,  seeing  tliat  it  was  impossible  to  hold  ^ew 

1  ok,  on  the  seventh  convened  his  general  officers,  in  the  W 

of  their  concurrence.     The  case  was  plain;  yet  Mercer  who 

was  de  ained  at  Amboy,  M^ote  an  nnLei;  wish  toTair^n 

he  post;  others  interpreted  the  vot3  of  congress  as  an  'nunc 

tiou  that  it  was  to  be  defended  it  ill  l,.~^->  i         \  "' 

M^xt.xiueu  at  ail  liaz.ardo ;  and,  an  one  third 


$.  tAil 


(2 


AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ,'  on.  m. 
of  the  army  ha,l  no  tents,  and  one  fourth  were  sick,  many 

to  hold  It  with  hve  thousand  men,  and  to  distrihute  the  rest 
of  tlie  army  between  King's  Bridge  and  Ilarlem  Heights. 
The  power  to  overrule  the  majority  of  his  general  offieersVd 
not  been  explicitly  conferred  on  Washington.  AVhile  there 
fore  he  removed  such  stores  a.  were  not  inmied lately lodTd 
and  began  to  transfer  the  sick  to  the  inland  towns  of  Kew- 
Jersey,  he  tlius  reasoned  vvith  congress  • 

expense  of  labor  which  now  seems  useless,  and  is  regretted  by 
those  who  form  a  judgment  from  after-knowledge ;  but  men 

wehavT:rr"\";f  "^  '^^*  ^y  such  won.  andVWaratfon: 
we  have  delayed  the  operations  of  the  campaign  dll  it  is  too 
late  to  effect  any  capital  incursion  into  the  country.  Every 
measure  is  to  be  formed  with  some  apprehension  tlut  all  our 
tn)ops  will  not  do  their  duty.  On  our  side  the  war  shouU 
be  defensive;  it  has  even  been  called  a  war  of  posts;  we 
should  on  all  occasions  avoid  a  general  action,  and  never  be 

that  itv^ould  be  presumptuous  to  draw  out  our  young  troops 
into  open  ground  against  their  superiors  both  innunlr  Jd 
disciplme  I  have  never  spared  the  spade  and  pickaxe.  I  have 
not  found  tha  readiness  to  defend  even  strong  posts  at  all 
Wds  ^vluch  IS  necessary  to  derive  the  greatest \e'nelit  from 
tnem.     VV  e  are  now  in  a  post  acknowledged  by  every  man  of 

with  dithculties ;  dechning  an  engagement  subjects  a  general 
to  reproach,  and  may  throw  discoui-agement  over  the  minds  of 
many;  but  when  the  fate  of  America  may  be  at  stake  on  the 
issue,  we  should  ; ,  -ract  the  war,  if  possible.  The  enemy 
mean  to  winter  in  x^ew  York;  that  they  can  drive  us  out  is 
eqiially  clear;  nothing  seems  to  remain  but  to  determine  the 
tune  ot  their  taking  possession." 

Congress  received  this  remonstrance  with  coldness;  but  it 
w.as  unanswerable,  and  they  resolved,  on  the  tenth,  thai  it  had 

T^Z't    r  """  '''''  ^"^'  P^^'  ''  *^^  ™y  «I-"1  J  remain 

Zr     ^'    '  '''^"''"*  ^''"^^''  ^^^''^^  ^^  «^«^ld  tl^^^k  it  proper 
lor  tiie  pubhc  service." 


im. 


TUE  PnOflRES-S  OF  THE  HOWES. 


43 

On  the  deTcntl,  Lord  Howe  sent  a  barge  for  Franklin 
John  Adams,  and  itutlcdgo.  They  were  me?  by  him  a.  "e 
water',  edge,  and  partook  of  a  collation.  In  the  disen  J  n  rf 
bnsmp  a  difflenlty  presented  itself  at  the  ontset.  A  "r  haj 
been  formally  announeed  as  a  committee  from  congress,  Lrd 
Howe  prenused,  w.th  some  embatrassment  of  ma.nL,  that  he 
ws  bound  0  say  he  conversed  with  them  as  private  ind  vid  als 

us  in  "tut  :         r"  '"  '"'  "''"^'  ^^"'^■-  "  Consider 
us  in  any  hglit  you  please,  except  that  of  Hritish  eubiects  " 

Durmg  a  conversation  which  lasted  for  several  homr^ 

Howe  was  d,scnrs.vo  in  his  remarks.     To  bring  the  discuifon 

bu  hvan,  tlat  he  touM  set  the  acts  of  parhament  whoUv 
ae.de  because  parhament  had  no  right  to  tax  Amenta  ot 
meddle  with  her  internal  polity."  America,  or 

Lord  Howe  answered,  "that  Sullivan  had  extended  his 

stctr°f  "'f""!*""  ™P°^'  "'"'  "»  commissio      .  Z 

pect  to  acts  of  parliament  was  confined  to  powers  of  co,"  U- 

ta  .on  with  private  persons."    Fra.,klin  !  .quired  if  the  c-.m 

missions  would  receive  and  rport  p.opositions  f^L    "e 

Ameneans;  as  no  objection  was  interposed,  he  reprelted 

that  It  was  the  duty  of  good  men  on  both  s  des  of  fhe  w2r 

to  promote  peace  by  an  acknowledgment  of  American  TndZ 

pendence  and  a  treaty  of  frie„dsh,/and  affianfe Treen  "t 

twoeouutnes;"  and  he  endeavored  to  prove  that  G^at  Br^^ 

anl^anfro      r""  '"""^  ^''^'^'^  from  s,.ht  !^t 
ance  than  from  che  connection  which  it  was  the  object  of  the 

rmTtr  '°  '^""'-    "^"^  '^0'™  «o»"»meatedl  his  glv 
emment  this  overture,  which  he  hi  his  heart  was  beginninf  to 
approve.     The  committee  of  eongi-ess,  on  their  retiirf  to  Pifila 
delphia,  reported  that  he  had  made  no  proposition  of  ™,„ 
except  that  the  colonies  should  rctu™  to  thZ    "  ance  foThe 
government  of  Great  Britain ;  and  that  his  commMon  did  not 
appear  to  contain  any  other  authority  of  importan  e  °ha ,  .ha! 
of  granting  pardons  and  declaring  A.,ierica,  or  2    'at  of   t 
to  be  m  the  king's  peace,  upon  submission.         ^  ^  '' 

liy  this  time  the  army  of  General  Howe  extended  alon^ 
the  h.gh  ground  that  overlooks  the  East  river  and  "he  sound 
from  ftooklyn  to  Pushing,  and  occupied  the  two  isl^ds  which 


44 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  OH.  III. 


we  call  Ward's  and  Randall's ;  a  battery  erected  at  Astoria  re- 
plied  to  the  American  works  on  the  point  just  north  of  Hell- 
gate  ferry      ISTight  after  niglit  boats  came  in  and  anchored 
just  above  Bushwick.    On  tlie  twelfth,  Washington,  supported 
by  the  written  requost  of  Greene  and  six  brigadiers,  recon- 
vened  his  council  of  war  at  the  quarters  of  .lacdougall ;  and 
this  time  It  was  decided  to  abandon  the   lower  part  of  the 
island,  none  dissenting  but  Spencer,  Heath,  and  George  CHn- 
ton.    The  council  was  hardly  over  when  Washington  was  once 
more  in  the  lines;  and  at  evening  the  Americans  under  his  eye 
doubled  their  posts  along  the  East  river.     He  was  seen  by  the 
Hessians;  and  Krug,  a  captain  of  the  Hessian  artillery,  twice 
m  succession  pointed  cannon  at  him  and  his  staff,  and  was  aim- 
ing a  tinrd  shot,  as  he  rode  on.     The  thirteenth,  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  victory  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham  in  which  Howe 
bore  an  honorable  part,  Avas  selected  for  the  landino-  of  the 
Lntish  in  ]^ew  York ;   the  watchword  was  "  Quebec "  the 
countersign  "Wolfe;"  but  the  ships-of-war  that  were  to' cover 
the  landing  caused  delay.     In  the  afternoon  four  of  them 
keeping  up  an  incessant  fire,  and  supported  by  the  cannon  on 
Goveniors  Island,  sailed  past  the  American  batteries  into  the 
^ast  river  and  anchored  opposite  the  present  Thirteenth  street 
One  of  their  shot  struck  within  six  feet  of  Washington  who 
was  watching  their  movements.     The  next  day  six  more  Brit- 
ish armed  ships  M^ent  up  the  East  river.     In  one  more  day  the 
^  city  would  have  been  evacuated. 

On  the  fifteenth  three  ships-of-war  ascended  the  Hn  Ison  as 
far  as  Bloomingdale.     At  eleven  the  shi]>s-of-war  which  were 
anchored  in  the  stream  below  Blackwell's  Island  be-rnn  a  heavy 
cannonade,  to  scour  the  grounds ;  at  the  same  time  eighty-four 
boats  laden  mth  troops,  under  the  direction  of  Admiral  Ho- 
tham  came  out  of  Newtown  creek,  and  with  a  southerly  wind 
sailed  up  the  East  river  in  four  cohmvs,  till,  on  a  signal,  they 
formed  m  line,  and,  aided  by  oars  and  the  tide,  landed  between 
Turtle  bay  and  the  city.     At  the  sound  of  the  first  cannon, 
\\ashington  rode  "with  all  possible  despatch"  toward  Kip's 
bay,  near  Thirty-fourth  street;  he  found  the  men  who  ln<1  been 
posted  m  the  lines  nmning  away,  and  the  Ijriffades  of  Fellows 
01  Massachusetts  and  Parsons  of  Coniu-cticut,  that  were  to  have 


1776. 


THE  PROGEESS  OF  THE  HOWF.S. 


46 

supported  them,  flying  in  every  direcuon.     Putnam's  division 
oi  about  four  thousand  troops  was  still  in  the  lower  city,  sure 
to  be  cut  olf,  unless  the  British  could  be  delayed.     When  all 
else  tails,  tl)e  commander-in-chief  must  in  person  give  the  ex- 
ample of  daring.     Washington  presented  himself  to  rally  the 
fugitives  and  hold  the  advancing  forces  in  check;  but,  on  the 
appearance  of  a  party  of  not  more  than  sixty  or  seventy,  thev 
ran  away  without  hring  a  shot,  leaving  him  within  eighty 
yards  of  the  enemy.     Eeminded  that  it  was  in  vain  to  with- 
stand the  British  alone,  he  turned  to  guard  against  fm-ther 
disaster,  and  to  secure  Harlem  Heights. 

As  the  Hessians  took  immediate  possession  of  the  breast- 
works which  guarded  the  Boston  road,  near  the  present  Lex- 
lugton  avemie,  the  brigades  fled,  not  without  loss,  across  woody 
fields  to  Lloomingdale.     Most  of  Putnam's  division  escaped 
by  a  road  very  near  the  Hudson  ;  its  commander,  heedless  of 
the  mtense  heat  of  the  day,  rode  from  post  to  post  to  call  off 
the  pickets  and  guards.    Silliman's  brigade  threw  itself  into  the 
redou^^t  of  Bunker  Hill,  where  Knox,  at  the  head  of  the  artil- 
lery, thought  ouly  of  a  gallant  defenre  ;  but  Aaron  Burr,  who 
was  one  of  Putnam's  aids,  guided  them  by  way  of  the  old 
Monument  lar.e  to  the  west  side  of  the  island,  where  they  fol- 
lowed the  wiuaing  road  now  superseded  by  the  Eighth  avenue 
ajid^regained  the  Bloomiugdale  road  near  the  present  Sixtieth 

The   respite   which  saved  Putnam's  division  was  due  to 

Mary  Lindley,  the  wife  of  Robert  Murray.     When  the  British 

army  drew  near  her  house  on  Incleberg,  as  Murray  Hill  was 

hen  called,  Howe  and  his  officers,  ordering  a  hall  accepted 

.itdZTir'^'"^';  '-^r'  ^^^^^---"-eof  cz:' 

?nd  the  good-humor  M-ith  which  she  parried  Tryon's  iests^  at 
her  sympathy  with  the  rebels,  she  whiled  away  Z  h^  o 
more  of  their  tune,  till  every  American  rogunont  had  escaped 
Th    Americans  le  t  behind  a  few  heavy  cannon,  and  much  of 
heir  baggage  and  stores;  fifteen  of  them  were  killed;  one 
hundi^  .Id  htty-iune  were  missing,  chiefly  wilful  loit;r:i 

with  l,ut  two  Hessians  killed  and  about  twenty  British  an.^ 
Hessians  womided.     At  night  their  bivouac  extended  from  the 


f  ! 


If  I    1 


^li 


'mil 


fNM 


46       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  ch.  iir. 

East  river  near  Ilell-gate  to  the  Hudson  at  Bloomingdale.  On 
Harlem  Heights  the  American  fugitives,  weary  from  having 
passed  hftcen  hours  under  arms,  dislieartened  by  the  loss  of 
their  tents  and  blankets,  and  wet  by  a  cold  driving  rain  that 
closed  the  sultry  day,  lay  on  their  arms  with  only  the  sky 
above  them.  -^ 

The  dastardly  flight  of  the  troops  at  Kip's  bay  was  reported 
to  congress  by  Washington ;  and  M^a^  rebuked  in  a  general 
order,  menacing  instant  death  as  the  punishment  of  cowai-dice 
on  the  field.     Meantime,  he  used  every  method  to  revive  the 
courage  of  his  aimy.     At  two  o'clock  in  the  dark  and  cloudv 
mornmg  of  the  sixteenth  Silas  Talbot  by  his  orders  ran  down 
the  nver m  a  fire-brig  under  a  fair  wind,  and,  grapphng  the 
Renomme,  set  the  brig  on  fire,  escaping  with  his  crew?  the 
Renomme  freed  itself,  but,  with  the  other  ships-of-war,  quitted 
its  moorings. 

On  the  same  day  American  troops  extended  their  left  wins 
from  Fort  Washington  to  Hu-lem.     As  an  olivet  to  this  move 
ment,  Leslie,  who  commanded  the  British  advanced  posts  led 
the  second  battalion  of  light  infantry,  ^vith  two  battahons  of 
Highlanders  and  seven  field-pieces,  into  a  wood  on  the  hill 
which  lies  east  of  Bloomingdale  road  and  overlooks  Manhattan- 
yille.     From  this  detachment  two  or  three  companies  of  light 
mlantry  descended  into  the  plain,  drove  in  an  American  picket 
and  sounded  their  bugles  in  defiance.     Engaging  their  atten- 
tion by  preparations  for  attacking  them  in  front;  Washington 
ordered  Major  Leitch  with  three  companies  of  Weedon's  Yir 
ginia  regiment,  and  Colonel   Knowlton  with   his   volunteer 
rangers,  to  prepare  secretly  an  attack  on  the  rear  of  the  main 
detachment  in  the  wood ;  and  Reed,  who  best  knew  the  ground 
acted  as  their  guide.     Under  the  lead  of  George  CHnton  the 
American  party  which  engaged  the  light  infantry  in  front 
compelled  them  twice  to  retreat,  and  drove  them  back  to  the 
force  witli  Leslie.     The  Americans  in  pursuit  clambered  up 
the  rocks,  and  a  very  brisk  action  ensued,  which  continued 
about  two  hours.      Knowlton  and  Leitch  began  their  attack 
too  soon,  on  the  flank  rather  than  in  the  rear.     Reed's  horse 
was  wounded  under  him ;  in  a  little  time  Leitcli  was  brought 
oil  with  three  balls  through  his  side.     Soon  after,  Knowlton 


1»76. 


THE  PEOGEESS  OF  THE  HOWES. 


47 

was  mortdly  wo.mded;  in  the  agonies  of  death,  aU  hh  iunui,, 
™  .f  t be  enemy  I,ad  been  beaten.    Kotwithstlnding  tbeS 
of  the,r  leaders  the  men  resolntely  continued  the  englgemen 
Washmgton  advanced  to  their  support  part  of  two  JWIard 
regiments,  w.th  detaelnnents  of  New  Englande« ;  P  Cm 
and  Greene, ,.  weU  as  Tilghman  and  othe«  of  the  g.n  "I 
st^,  joined  m  the  aetion  to  animate  the  troops,  who  chared 
mth    be  greatest  intrepidity.    The  British,  io«ted  a  S 
tame,  fell  back  mto  an  orchard,  and  from  thence  across  a  hoi 
low  and  np  the  hill  which  bes  east  of  the  Eighth  a™  and 
overlooks  the  country  far  and  wide.     Theh-  condirn  ™ 
desperate:  they  bad  lost  seventy  killed  and  two  bmid  ed  Z 
ten  wounded;  the  Highlander,  had  fired  their  last  car  ridge 
without  speedy  relief,  they  must  certainly  he  cut  off      The 
Hessian  yagers  were  the  fi..t  reinforcements  that  «,achcd  the 
hill,  and  were  m  season  to  share  in  the  action,  suflerin..  a  loss 
of  one  officer  and  seven  men  wounded.     "Cohimns  IieZ 
hsh  mfantry,  ordered  at  eleven  to  stand  to  their  arms,  wefe 
trotted  ahou  three  miles,  without  a  halt  to  take  breath,"  Id 

1^""?%  '  r'"''™  ™  ^''■'  '»  "'-^^  ™^.  ^^-Wle  two  otter 
German  battalions  occupied  Macgowan's  pL.  Washington 
nnwil bug  to  risk  a  general  action,  ordered  a  retrear  "S 
skirmish  restored  the  spirit  and  confidence  of  the  Aine,  m 
Their  loss  was  about  si..ty  killed  and  wounded;  butlmont 
these  was  Ifnowlton,  who  would  have  been  an  honor  to  anf 
coun  ry,  and  Leitcb,  one  of  Virginia's  worthiest  sons  ^ 

Howe  would  never  own  how  much  he  had  sniici-ed  •  his 
general  ordei-s  rebuked  Leslie  for  impi-udencc.    The  r^n 
confined  Inm  in  his  caution.     Ibe  ground  in  front  o^fc 
Americans  was  so  difficult  and  so  well  fortified  that  lie  col 
ot  hoi«  to  carry  it  by  storm  ;  lie  therefore  waited  mXZn 

ptXrf '  "1'^!"  °°"°°'  "■»""»  of  transportatb:,  tS 
partly  to  form  redoubts  across  th..  island. 

During  the  delay.  Lord  Jowe  and  his  brother   on  the 
prepaitd  by  tl  e  solicitor-general,  promised  in  th,  kinn-'s  name 

a^j,utvou,  auu,  appealing  from  congress, 


m 


V  *  1 

m 


s,?  ; 


;    ^  I 


48        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  on.  iii. 

they  invited  all  well-affected  subjects  to  a  conference.  The 
paper  was  disingenuous;  for  the  instructions  to  the  commis- 
sioners, which  were  kept  secret,  demanded  as  preliminaiy  con- 
ditions grants  of  revenue  and  further  changes  of  charters. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-first,  more 
than  five  days  after  New  York  had  been  in  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  the  British,  a  fire  chanced  to  break  out  in  a  small 
wooden  public-house  of  low  character  near  Whitehall  sHp. 
The  weather  had  been  hot  and  dry;  a  fresh  gale  was  blowing 
from  the  south-west;  the  flames  spread  rapidly;  and  the  east 
side  of  Broadway,  as  far  as  Exchange  place,  became  a  heap  of 
niins.     The  wind  veering  to  the  south-east,  the  fire  crossed 
Broadway  above  Morris  street,  destroyed  Trinity  church  and 
the  Lutheran  church,  and  extended  to  Barclay  street.     The 
flames  were  arrested,  not  so  much  by  the  English  guard  as  by 
the  sailors  whom  the  admiral  sent  on  shore.     Of  the  four 
thousand  tenements  of  the  city,  more  than  four  hundred  were 
burnt  down.     In  his  report,   Howe,  without  the  slightest 
ground,  attanbuted  the  accident  to  a  conspiracy. 

When,  after  the  disasters  on  Long  Island,  Washington 
needed  to  know  in  what  quarter  the  attack  of  the  British  was 
to  be  expected,  Nathan  Hale,  a  captain  in  Knowlton's  regi- 
ment, a  graduate  of  Yale  college,  an  excellent  scholar,  com- 
paratively a  veteran,  but  three  months  beyond  one-and-twenty 
yet  already  betrothed,  volunteered  to  venture,  under  a  disguise, 
withm  the  British  lines.     Just  at  the  moment  of  his  return 
he  was  seized  and  carried  before  General  Howe,  in  New  York; 
^e  frankly  avowed  his  name,  rank,  and  purpose ;  and,  without 
a  tnal,  Howe  ordered  him  to  be  executed  the  folloAnng  mom- 
jing  as  a  spy.     That  night  he  was  exposed  to  the  insolent 
j  cruelty  of  his  jailer.     The  consolation  of  seeing  a  clergman 
i  was  denied  him ;  his  request  for  a  Bible  was  refused.    A  more 
humane  British  ofiicer,  who  was  deputed  to  superintend  his 
execution,  furnished  him  means  to  write  to  his  mother  and  to 
a  comrade  in  arms.     On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second, 
as  he  ascended  the  gallows,  he  said:  "I  only  regret  that  I 
have  but  one  life  to  lose  for  my  country."    The  provost-mar- 
shal destroyed  his  letters,  as  if  grudging  his  friends  a  knowledge 
of  the  firmness  with  which  he  had  contemplated  death.     Ilia 


1776. 


THE  PEOGEESS  OF  THE  BOWES. 


49 

countrymen  never  pretended  that  the  beauty  of  Lis  character 
should  have  ext^aptcd  him  from  the  penalty  which  the  laws 
of  war  of  that  day  imposed;  they  complained  that  the  hours  of 
his  imprisonment  were  imbittered  by  barbarous  harshness. 

The  Americans  kept  up  the  system  of  wearing  out  their 
enemy  by  continual  skirmishes  and  alarms.  On  the  twenty- 
third,  at  the  glimmer  of  da;vn,  in  a  well-planned  but  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  recapture  Randall's  Island,  Thomas  Ilenly 
of  Charlestomi,  Massachusetts,  "one  of  the  best  officers  in  the 
army,"  lost  his  life.  He  was  buried  by  the  side  of  Knowlton 
within  the  present  Trinity  cemetery.  ' 

The  prisoners  of  war,  five  hundred  in  number,  whom 
Carleton  had  sent  from  Quebec  on  parole,  were  landed  on  the 
twenty-fourth  from  shallops  at  Ehzabeth  point.  It  wanted 
but  an  hoiu'  or  two  of  midnight ;  the  moon,  neai-ly  full,  shone 
cloudlessly  ;  Morgan,  as  he  sprung  from  the  bow  of  the  boat, 
fell  on  the  earth  as  if  to  clasp  it,  and  cried :  "  O  my  country  ' " 
They  all  ran  a  race  to  Elizabethto^vn,  where,  too  happy  to  sleep, 
they  passed  the  night  in  singing,  dancing,  screaming,  and 
raising  the  Indian  halloo  from  excess  of  joy.  Washington 
hastened  Morgan's  exchange,  and  recommended  his  prom(;tion. 
After  the  commander-in-chief,  he  was  the  best  officer  whom 
V  irgmia  sent  into  the  field. 

Seemingly  irreconcilal)le  differences  of  opinion  delayed  the 
continental  congress  in  the  work  of  confederation;  Edward 
laitledge  despaired  of  success,  except  through  a  special  con- 
vention of  the  states,  chosen  for  this  pui-pose  alone. 

On  the  seventeenth,  after  many  weeks  of  deliberation,  the 
members  of  congress  adopted  an  elaborate  plan  of  treaty  to 
be  proposed  to  France.     They  wished  France  to  engage  in  a 
separate  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  by  this  diversion  to  leave 
America  the  opportunity  of  establishing  her  independence. 
Ihey  were  willing  to  assure  to  Spain  freedom  from  molesta- 
tion in  Its  territories;  they  renounced  in  favor  of  France  all 
eventual  conquests  in  the  West  Indies;  but  they  claimed  the 
sole  right  ot  acquiring  British  continental  America,  the  Ber- 
mudas, Cape  Breton,  and  Newfoundland.    The  king  of  France 
nnght  retain  his  exclusive  rights  in  Newfoundland,  as  recog- 
nised bv  Enn-land  ''r  flip  tt-Pifi-  -^'  -"^r-Q     '    j.  i  •        i  ■ 

^    _-!^i-iiia  .1.  uic  neatj    ux  nb3;    out  his   cubjects 


1 1 


I'tJ 


!  fl' 


'I 


*^:       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE. 

were  not  to  fisli  "  in  the  liavcns,  l)ays,  creeks,  roads,  coasts,  or 
places,"  which  the  United  States  were  to  win.     The  rising 
nation  avowed  tlie  pi-inciple  that  free  elui)s  impart  freedom 
to  goods;  that  a  neutral  power  may  lawfully  trade  with  a 
belligerent.     Privateering  was  to  be  much  restricted.     The 
young  republic,  in  this  moment  of  her  greatest  need,  was  not 
willing  to  make  one  connnon  cause  mth  France  ;  she  only 
offered  not  to  assist  Great  Bntain  in  the  war  on  France,  nor 
trade  with  that  power  in  contraband  goods.     The  commis- 
sioiiers  might  stipulate  that  the  United  States  would  never 
again^  be  subject  to  the  crown  or  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain ;  and,  in  case  France  should  become  in\olved  in  the 
war,  that  neither  party  should  make  a  definitive  ti-eaty  of  peace 
without  six  months'  notice  to  the  other.     They  weie  further 
instructed  to  solicit  muskets  and  bayonets,  ammunition  and 
brass  field-pieces,  to  be  sent  under  convoy  by  I lance ;  and  it 
was  added :  "  It  will  be  proper  for  you  to'  press  for  the  im  me- 
diate and  explicit  declaration  of  France  in  our  favor,  upon  a 
suggestion  that  a  reunion  with  Great  Britain  may  be  the  con- 
sequence of  a  delay." 

In  the  selection  of  the  three  meud)crs  of  the  commission, 
FrankUn  was  placed  at  its  head ;  Deane,  with  whom  iiobert 
Morris  had  associated  an  unworthy  member  of  his  own  family 
as  a  joint  commercial  agent  in  France,  M-as  chosen  nexi; ;  to 
them  was  added  Jefferson,  who,  early  in  August,  had  retired 
from  congress  to  assist  his  native  state  in  adapting  its  code  of 
laws  to  its  new  life  as  a  republic.  When  Jefferson  declared 
himself  constrained  to  decline  the  appointment,  it  was  given 
to  Arthur  Lee.  Franklin  proposed  that  the  commission  should 
have  power  to  treat  forthwith  for  peace  with  England. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  ever  met  increasing  difficulties. 
The  attempt  to  raise  up  a  navy  was  baffled  by  a  want  of  guns, 
canvas,  and  ammunition.  In  the  preceding  December  con- 
gress had  ordered  the  construction  of  thirteen  ships-of-war, 
each  of  which  was  to  carry  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-two 
gims ;  but  not  one  of  them  was  ready  for  sea,  and  the  national 
cruisers  consisted  of  about  twelve  merchant  vessels,  purchased 
and  equipped  at  intervals.  The  officers,  of  whom  the  first 
formal  appointment  was  made  on  the  twenty-second  of  De- 


B 


1776. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  HOWES. 


51 


cember  17  <o  and  included  the  names  of  Nicholas  Biddle  and 
John  Paul  Jones,  were  necessarily  taken  from  merchant  ships 
American  pnvateers,  in  the  year  177G,  captured  three  hundred 
and  foity-two  British  vessels  ;  and  these  volunteer  adventures 
were  so  lucrative  that  few  sailors  would  enlist  in  the  public 
service  for  more  than  a  twelvemonth,  and  most  of  them  only 
lor  one  cruise.  "^ 

Before  the  middle  of  June,  the  committee  on  spies,  of 
which  John  Adams  and  Edward  Rutledge  were  members,  were 
desired  to  revise  the  articles  of  war ;  after  more  than  three 
months  an  improved  code,  formed  on  the  British  regulations 
was  adopted.  °  ' 

The  country  was  upon  the  eve  of  a  dissolution  of  its  army  • 
AA  aslnngton,  almost  a  year  before,  had  foretold  to  congress  the 
evils  of  their  system  with  as  much  accuracy  as  if  he  "had 
spoken  with  a  prophetic  spirit."    I      condition  at  present  waa 
more  cnticd  than  before,  for  a  larger  force  was  arrayed  against 
him.     He  borrowed  hours  allotted  to  sleep  to  convey  to  con- 
gress with  sincerity  and  freedom  his  thoughts  on  the  proper 
organization  of  the  army,  sa^^ng:  "Experience,  wliich  is  the 
best  criterion  to  work  by,  so  fully,  clearly,  and  decisively 
reprobates  the  practice  of  trusting  to  militia  that  no  man  who 
regards   order,  regularity,  and  economy,  or  his  own  honor, 
character,  or  peace  of  mind,  will  risk  them  upon  this  issue. 
The  evils  to  be  apprehended  from  a  standing  army  are  re- 
mote, and,  situated  a.  we  are,  not  at  all  to  be  dreaded ;  but 
the  consequence  of  wanting  one  is  certain  and  inevitable  ruin. 
This  contest  is  not  hkely  to  be  the  work  of  a  dav ;  and,  to  carry 
on  the  war  systematically,  you  must  establish  your  anny  upon 
a  permanent  tooting."     The  materials,  he  said,  were  excellent  • 
to  induce  enhstments  for  the  continuance  of  the  war,  he  urged 
the  offer  of  a  sufhcient  bounty;  for  tlie  officers  he  advised 
proper  care  m  their  nomination,  and  such  pay  as  would  en- 
courage "gentlemen  "  and  persons  of  hberal  sc.itiments  to  en- 
gage:  m  this  manner  they  would  in  a  little  time  have  an  army 
able  to  cope  with  any  adversary.     But  congress,  without  wait- 
ing for  his  advice,  framed  a  plan  of  their  ou-n 

e\.hnlHv'''T^  v^  September  they  resolved  that  eighty- 
eight  battahons  be  enlisted  as  soon  as  possible  to  serve  during 


!  \ 


Ml 


lit 


.      52       AMEFwICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  cu.  m. 

the  war,  but  without  offering  adequate  induceirents.    The  men 
in  the  army,  whose  term  would  expire  with  the  year,  had  been 
enlisted  directly  by  continental  agents  and  officers ;  congress 
now  apportioned  to  the  thirteen  states  their  respective  quotas ; 
and  this  reference  of  the  subject  to  so  many  separate  legisla^ 
tures  or  governments  could  not  but  occasion  a  delay  of  several 
months,  even  if  the  best  will  should  prevail.     Congress  had  no 
magazines ;  they  therefore  left  the  states  to  provide  arms  and 
clothing,  each  for  its  own  line.    To  complete  the  difficulty  of 
organizing  a  national  army,  they  yielded  to  the  several  states 
the  appointment  of  all  officers  except  general  officers;  no  dis- 
cretion was  reserved  to  the  commander-in-chief,  or  formally 
even  to  themselves,  to  promote  the  meritorious.    Vacancies 
must  remain  undisposed  of  tiU  the  states,  each  for  itself,  should 
exercise  its  power. 

The  earnest  expostulations  of  Washington  commanded  lit- 
tle more  respect  from  congress  than  a  reference  to  a  commit- 
tee ;  three  of  its  members  were  deputed  to  repair  to  the  camp, 
but  their  mission   was  attended  by  no  perceptible  results! 
Troops  continued  to  be  leded  by  requisitions  on  the  several 
states,  and  otHcers  to  be  nominated  by  local  authorities.    Wash- 
ington, therefore,  reluctantly  bade  adieu  to  every  present  hope 
of  commanding  an  efficient,  thoroughly  united  army,  and  in 
moments  of  crisis  there  was  no  resource  but  in  appeals  through 
the  local  governments  to  the  people.     But  the  citizens,  with- 
out being  permanently  imbodied,  proved  untiring  in  zeal  and 
co.H-age;  and  it  was  by  them  that  American  liberty  was  assert- 
ed, defended,  and  made  triumphant.    To  midisciplined  militia 
belong  the  honors  of  Concord  and  Lexington ;  militia  with- 
stood the  British  at  Bunker  Hill;  by  the  aid  of  militia  an 
army  of  veterans  was  driven  from  Boston ;  and  we  shall  see 
the  unprosperous  tide  of  affairs,  in  the  central  states  and  in  tlie 
South,  turned  by  the  sudden  uprising  of  volunteere. 


.(  I 


1 


1776. 


OPINION  IN  ENGLAND. 


53 


CHAPTER  ly. 

opinion  in  england.    boeder  war  in  america. 

July-November  1776. 

In  England,  when  tlie  demand  of  the  Americans  had 
changed  from  redress  to  independence,  ninety-nine  out  of  one 
hundred  of  their  old  well-wishers  desired  their  subjection. 
While  Germain  attributed  "  infinite  honor  to  the  beloved  and 
admired  Lord  Howe,"  he  strained  after  words  to  praise  "  the 
inborn  courage  and  active  spirit,"  and  youthful  fire,  and  wise 
experience  of  General  Howe,  whom  the  king  nominated  a 
knight-companion  of  the  order  of  the  Bath.  The  cause  of  the 
Americans  seeming  now  to  be  lost,  Fox  wrote  to  Rockingham : 
"  It  should  be  a  point  of  honor  among  us  all  to  support  the 
American  pretensions  in  adversity  as  much  as  we  did  in  their 
prosperity,  and  never  desert  those  who  have  acted  unsuccess- 
fully upon  whig  principles." 

The  session  of  pariiament  was  at  hand ;  Rockingham,  Burke, 
and  their  friends  proposed  to  stay  away  from  its  meetings,  as- 
signing as  their  motive  that  their  opposition  did  but  exhibit 
their  weakness,  and  so  strengthened  the  ministry.  Fox  re- 
monstrated :  « I  conjure  you,  over  and  over  again,  to  consider 
the  importance  of  the  crisis ;  secession  would  be  considered  as 
running  away  from  the  conquerors,  and  giving  up  a  cause 
which  we  think  no  longer  tenable."  But  the  rebellion  seemed 
in  its  last  agony ;  they  therefore  kept  aloof  for  the  time,  will- 
ing to  step  in  on  the  side  of  mercy  when  the  ministers  should 
have  beaten  it  down. 

The  king,  as  he  opened  pariiament  on  the  thirty-first  of 
October,  derived  from  the  declaration  of  independence  ^'tho 


51! 


u-ai 


#.t 


W.U   i 


64        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  en.  iv. 

Olio  great  advantage  of  uiianinuty  at  home ; "  and  he  i)rofeyscd 
a  desire  "  to  restoi-e  to  the  Americans  the  blessings  of  law  and 
liberty." 

"The  principles  operating  among  the  inliabitants  of  the 
colonies  in  their  commotions,"  said  Lord  John  Cavendish, 
"bear  an  exact  analogy  with  those  which  support  the  most 
valuable  part  of  our  constitution ;  to  extirpate  them  by  the 
sword,  in  any  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions,  ^vould  establish 
precedents  most  dangerous  to  the  hberties  of  this  kingdom." 
"  It  is  impossible  for  this  island  to  conquer  and  hold  America," 
said  Wilkes;  "we  must  recall  our  fleets  and  armies,  repeal  all 
acts  mjurious  to  the  Americans,  and  restore  their  chartnrs,  if 
we  would  restore  unity  to  the  empire."     "  Some  of  the  colo- 
nies,"  said  Lord  North,  "will  break  off  from  the  general  con- 
federacy.    Reconciliation  has  constantly  boon  my  object ;  it 
is  my  wish  to  use  victory  with  moderation.''     The  house  was 
reminded  by  Barre  that  both  France  and  Spain  miglit  inter- 
fere.    Germain  ]-oplied :  "  Do  you  suppose  the  housc°of  Bour- 
bon would  hke  to  have  the  spirit  of  independence  cross  the 
Atlantic,  or  their  own  colonists  catch  fire  at  the  unlimited 
rights  of  mankind?"     "Administration,"  said  Fox,  "deserve 
nothing  but  reproach  for  having  brought  the  Americans  into 
such  a  situation  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  pursue  any 
other  conduct  than  what  they  have  pursued.     Li  declaring 
independence,  they  have  done  no  more  than  the  En^-lish  did 
against  James  IL     The  noble  lord  who  spoke  last  prides  him- 
self on  a  legislature  being  re-estabhshed  in  New  York.     It  has 
been  very  avoII  said  that  the  speech  is  a  hypocritical  one;  in 
tnith,  there  is  not  a  little  hypocrisy  in  supposing  that  a  king" 
—and  he  made  the  allusion  more  direct,  by  ironically  exceptino- 
George  III.  as  one  who  really  loved  liberty— "  that  a  cominoS 
king  should  be  solicitous  to  establish  anything  that  depends  on 
a  popular  assembly.     Kings  govern  by  means  of  po])ular  as- 
sembUes  only  when  they  cannot  do  without  them ;  a  king  fond 
of  that  mode  of  governing  is  a  chimera.     It  cannot  exist.     It 
l^is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  things.     But  if  this  happy  time  of 
law  and  liberty  is  to  be  restored  ^o  America,  why  was  it  ever 
disturbed?     It  reigned  there  till  the  abominable  doctrine  of 
gaining  money  by  taxes  infatuated  our  statesmen.     Why  did 


1776. 


OPINION  IN  ENGLAND. 


55 

yoa  destroy  the  fair  work  of  so  many  ages,  in  order  to  re- 
establish  It  l>y  the  bayonets  of  discii)lined  Germans?  If  we 
are  reduced  to  the  dilemma  of  coiuiuering  or  abandoning 
America,  1  am  for  abandoning  America." 

These  intrepid  words  thrilled  the  lunise  of  commons     "  I 
never  in  my  life  heard  a  more  masterly  speech,"  said  Gibbon, 
""-'^'er  knew  any  one  better  on  any  occasion,"  sa^d  Burke. 
Ihe  division  left  the  ministry  in  the  undisputed  possession 
of  power  m  parliament;  but  letters  from  General  Howe  to 
the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  received  on  the  second  of 
^ovember,  crushed  their  hopes  of  early  success  in  reducing 
Amenca.^    for  the  next  campaign  he  required  ten  line-ol? 
battle  ships  with  supernumerary  seamen  to  join  the  tleet  in 
i'ebruary,  and  recruits  from  Europe  without  definite  limit 

IJieso  demands  Germain  could  not  meet.     IJis  gloomy 
forebodings  he  kept  to  himself;  while  his  ninners  about  <.^vn 
were  taught  to  screen  the  ministry  by  throwing  the  blame  of 
delays  upon  the  madness  or  ignorance,  the  rashness  or  in- 
activity, of  Clinton,  Carleton,  and  Howe.     But  he  could  not 
conceal  the  public  declaration  in  which  the  two   brothers 
pledged  th^  ministers  to  concur  in  the  revisal  of  all  the  acts 
ot  parliament  by  which  the  Americans  were  ao-grieved      To 
test  the  sincerity  of  this  offer,  Lord  John  Cavendish,  on  the 
sixth,  moved  that  the  house  should  resolve  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  of  that  revisal.     The  motion  perplexed 
Lord  North,  who  certainly  did  not  wish  to  root  up  every 
chance  of  reconciliation;  but  the  exigency  of  the  debate  out- 
veighed  the  consideration  due  to  a  remote  people,  and  forced 
him  to  say:  ''I  ^nll  never  allow  the  legislative  claims  of  this 
country  to  be  a  grievance,  nor  relax  in  pursuing  those  claims 
so  long  as  the  Americans  dispute  our  power  and  right  of 
legislation.    Let  them  acknowledge  the  right,  and  I  shall  be 
ready  not  only  to  remedy  real  grievances,  but  even,  in  some 
nstances,  to  bend  to  their  prejudices."    Fox  directed  attention 
0  the  assumption  of  power  to  raise  taxes,  and  of  power  to 
modify  or  annihilate  charters  at  pleasure,  as  the  two  principal 
grievances  which  needed  revision.     "Till  the  spirit  of  inde- 
pendency  is  subdued,"  replied  Wedderbum,  "revisions  are 
Kile;   the  Americans  have  no  terms  to  demand  from  your 


II  ill 


66       AMERICxV  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;   CH.  IV. 


I 


u 


justice,  whatever  tliey  may  hope  from  your  grace  and  mercy." 
Lord  John  Cavendish,  on  the  division,  obtained  less  than  fifty 
votes. 


From  this  time  the  friends  of  Eockinffham  at+e  j 


;ea  I'l 


t  (■    ■   s 


the  morning  on  private  business,  but  so  soon  as  p'  hUc  i  .isi- 
nesswas  introduced  they  ostentatiously  bowed  to  tl'  .-j.Pi.'-er 
and  withdrew,  leaving  the  ministers  to  carry  th'^ir  n.  es 
without  opposition  or  debate.  But  this  policy  did  not  suit 
Fox,  whose  sagacity  and  feariessness  made  him,  -  '>\ty- 
seven,  the  most  important  member  of  the  house  of  commons. 

The^  character  of  this  unique  man  was  not  a  chapter  of 
contradictions ;  each  part  of  his  nature  was  in  harmony  with 
all  the  rest.     "  Perhaps  no  human  being  was  ever  more  per- 
fectly exempt  from  the  taint  of  malevolence,  vanity,  or  false- 
hood ;  "  but  he  had  no  restraining  principles,  and  looked  with 
contempt  on  those  who  had.     Priding  himself  on  ignorance 
of  every  self-dejiying  virtue,  and  delighting  in  excesses,  he 
feared  nothing.     Unlucky  at  the  gaming-table  beyond  all  cal- 
culation of  cliances,  di-aining  the  cup  of  pleasure  to  the  dregs, 
the  delight  of  profligates,  the  sport  of  usurers,  he  braved  scan- 
dal, and  gloried  in  a  lordly  recklessness  of  his  inability  to  pay 
his  debts,  as  if  superb  ostentation  in  misfortune  raised  him 
above  his  fellow-men.    He  had  a  strong  will ;  but  he  never 
used  it  to  bridle  his  passions,  even  though  their  indulgence  cor- 
nipted  his  young  admirers,  and  burdened  his  own  father  with 
his  enormous  losses.    Born  to  wealth  and  rank  and  easy  access 
to  the  service  of  the  king,  at  heart  an  aristocrat,  he  could  scoff 
at  monarchy  and  hold  the  language  of  a  leveller  and  a  dema- 
gogue.    He  loved  poetry  and  elegant  letters,  Shakespeare  and 
Dryden,  the  songs  of  Homer  above  all ;  but  science  M-m  too 
dull  for  him,  and  even  the  lucidity  and  novelty  of  Adam 
Smith  could  not  charm  him  to  the  study  of  pohtical  economy. 
His  uncurbed  licentiousness  seemed  rather  to  excite  than  to 
exhaust  his  powers ;  his  perceptions  were  quick  and  instinc- 
tively true ;  and  in  his  wildest  dissipation  he  retained  an  un- 
extinguishable   passion  for   activity  of   intellect.     Liiing  as 
though  men  and  women  were  instruments  of  pleasure,  he  yet 
felt  him,^elf  destined  for  great  things,  and  called  forth  to  the 
service  of  mankind.     To  be  taUicd  about,  he  would  stake  all 


1776. 


OPINION  IN  ENGLAND. 


67 


he  had  and  more  on  a  wager ;  but  the  all-conquering  instinct 
of  his  ambition  drove  him  to  the  house  of  commons.     There 
Ins  genius  was  at  home ;  and  that  body  cherished  him  with  the 
nidulgent  pride  wliich  it  always  manifests  to  those  wlio  keep 
up  Its  high  reputation   with  the  world.     A  knotty  brow,  a 
dark  brown  con  ploxion,  thick,  shaggy  eyebrows,  and  a  com- 
pact frame,  marked  a  rugged  audacity  and  a  commanding  en- 
ergy, which  made  him  rude  and  terrible  as  an  adversary;  but 
with  all  this  he  had  a  loveliness  of  temper  which  so  endeared 
liim  to  his  friends  that  the  survivors  among  them  whom  I 
have  known  never  ceased  the  praise  of  the  sweetness  and 
gentleness  of  his  familiar  intercourse.     It  was  natural  to  him 
to  venerate  greatness  like  Edmund  Burke's;  ana  a  wound  in 
las  .iliections  easily  moved  him  to  tears.     If  his  life  was  dis- 
so  ute  his  speech  was  austere.    His  words  were  all  pure  Eng- 
hsh ;  he  took  no  pains  to  hunt  after  them  ;  the  aptest  came  at 
his  call  and  seemed  to  belong  to  him.     Every  part  of  his  dis- 
course lived  and  moved.     He  never  gave  up  strength  of  state- 
ment for  beauty  of  expression,  and  never  indulged  in  fine 
phrases.     His  healthy  diction   was  unaffectedly  simple   and 
nervous,  always  effective,  sometimes  majestic  and  resounding 
rarely  oniate,  and  then  only  when  he  impressed  a  saying  of 
poet  or  philosopher  to  tip  his  argument  with  fire.     He  never 
dazzled  with  brilliant  colors,  but  could  startle  by  boldness  in 
the  contrast  of  light  and  shade.     He  forced  his  hearers  to  be 
attentive  and  docile;  for  he  spoke  only  when  he  had  something 
to  say  that  needed  to  be  said,  and  compelled  admiration  because 
he  made  himself  understood.    He  could  not  only  take  the  vast 
compass  of  a  great  question,  but,  with  singular  and  unfailing 
sagacity,  could  detect  the  principle  upon  which  it  hinged 
What  was  entangled  he  could  unfold  quickly  and  lucidlv;  now 
epeaking  with  copious  fluency,  and  now  unravelling  point  by 
point;  at  one  time   confining  debate  within   the  narrowest 
limi  s,  and  again  discoursing  as  if  inspired  to  plead  for  all 

to'l"        1    r  1    '^  '  ^'^'^^^■^"^  ^^'  ^'  ^^'^«^'  ^^^  bringing 
together  what  he  wanted,  though  lying  far  off  and  asunder 
It  was  his  wont  to  march  straightforward  to  his  end;  but  he 
knew  how  to  step  aside  from  an  onset,  to  draw  l>ack  with  his 
eye  on  his  foe,  and  then,  by  a  quick  reversion,  to  strike  bm 


Ml 


'"ill 

M 

;     1 . 

I     i'i 


n  ii  1-1 


58        AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  on.  iv. 

unawares  aa  \vitli  talons.  Wlion  involvorl  in  dispute,  lie  dashed 
at  the  central  idea,  wliieh  \xm  of  power  to  decide  the  strife ; 
grasped  it  firndy  and  held  it  fast ;  turned  it  over  and  over  on' 
every  side  ;  held  it  up  in  the  most  various  asjiects ;  came  once 
more  to  dwell  upon  it  with  fresh  strength;  renewed  blow 
after  blow  till  it  became  annealed  like  steel.  He  hit  the  nail 
again  and  again,  and  always  on  the  head,  till  he  drove  it  homo 
into  the  minds  of  his  hearers ;  and,  when  ho  was  outvoted, 
he  still  bore  away  the  wreath  as  a  wrestler.  His  merits,  as 
sununed  up  by  Mackintosh,  were  "reason,  sim|)licity,  and 
vehemence." 

Yet  Fox  was  great  only  as  a  speaker,  and  only  as  a  speaker 
in  the  house  of  conunons,  and  there  great  only  as  a  speaker  in 
opposition.  l[e  wius  too  skilful  in  controversy  to  be  able  to 
present  the  ctmnections  and  relations  of  events  with  compre- 
hensive fairness,  and  his  strength  went  out  from  Jiim  when  ho 
undertook  the  otHce  of  an  historian,  lie  failed  ius  a  statesman 
from  the  waywardness  of  unfixed  principles ;  but  ho  was  the 
very  man  t..  sto.  m  a  stronghold.  In  running  down  a  ministry, 
his  voice  hallooed  on  the  i)ack,  and  he  was  sure  to  be  the  first 
in  at  the  death.  And  now,  in  the  house  of  commons,  this 
master  of  debate  had  declared  for  the  iiidei)endeuce  of  the 
United  States. 

Subordinates  in  Canada  paid  court  to  the  "confidential 
circle"  of  (Jormain  by  censuring  Carleton  for  restraining  the 
Indians  within  the  bomulary  of  his  province. 

i:a:-ly  in  Sr'ptember,  Hamilton,  the  lieutenant-governor  of 
Detroit,  wrote  directly  to  the  secretary  of  state,  p-omising  that 
small  parties  "of  the  savages  assembled  "  ],y  hiui  "  in  council," 
"chiefs  ami  warriors  from  the  ( )tta  was,  ()  jib  was,  Wyandot's, 
and  Pottaw.itomies,"  with  the  Senecas,  would  "fall  on  tho 
scattered  settlers  on  the  Ohio  "  aiui  its  branches.  With  fretful 
restlessness  (Jermain  enjoined  his  agents  to  extend  the  massa- 
cres and  scalpings  aloug  the  border  of  poi)ulation  from  Canada 
to  Georgia,  and  chid  every  sign  of  relenting. 

In  1701)  Carleton  had  urged  the  ministry  to  liold  the  line  of 
connnuuication  between  the  St.  Lawrence  "and  New  York,  as 
tlie  means  of  securing  the  dependence  of  N"ow  York  and  New 
England;  ami  he  looked  upon  the  olHce  of  recovering  that  line 


1776. 


BOKDEIi   WAK  IX  AMERICA. 


69 

as  reservca  of  ri,.ht  for  lumself.     In  tl.c  next  year's  campaign 
he  proposed  to  advance  to  All>any  ;  for  the  present,  l,e  L 
H.^n^ed  only  to  acquire  the  mastery  of  Lake  Chanipkin.     In 
jposmg  lum  the  An.ericans  met  insu,,erahle  dlfHcuUies;  their 
8kil  u  sh.p-l.mlders  were  elsewhere  crowded  with  employ.nent 
m  httn.g  ..t  pnl.lic  vessels  .nd  privateers;  the  scan t/rv! 
^ores  wluch  could  be  spared  nu.st  be  transported  from  tide- 
water to  the   lake,  over  almost  impassable  roads ;  and  every 
stick  of  timber  was  to  be  cut  in  the  adjacent  woods.     Wlien 
determmed   zeal   had  constructed  a  fleet  of   eight   gondolj 
three   rou-.alU,s,  an<l   four  sloops  or  schoonct,  tht"  weS 
neither  r.val   olHcers  nor  n.u-iners  to  take  charge  of  them 
The  duef  connnand  fell  on   Arnold,  a  landsman t  his  seco  d 
was  Waterbury,  a  brigadier  in  the  Connecticut  militia;  the 
crews  were  mostly  soldiers.  ' 

On  the  other  hand,  Carleton,  who  overrated  the  American 
preparation       He  was  aided  by  constructors  from   Ei.Ldand 

2S^;'i'^^- '" ''' ''- ^^™-  The a!;;;:;l%; 

con  nbuted  naval  equipments  and  materials  for  ship-buildiii 
^:^Z^Z;  ''  T?  '""'^^  I^Htish  yards  three'vS'l 
ZlatV^'T      r  '"■■?'  "^  *'"  ^"'^I-"«^^^*^-  *i-t  they 

'r  more  flat  l'  "''  f^^^^^'  '^  *^"  ^'^'^^^'^^  ^  t>vo  hundred 
or  n  ore  flat-boats  were  built  at  Montreal  and  hauled  to  St 
Jr^ui's,  whence  a  deep  channel  leads  to  the  lake.  Tit  nl^l 
ou  ar^y,  co.iposed  in  part  of  the  men  of  Brunswick  T  of 
W  Udeck,  were  most  amply  provided  with  artillery.  While  the 
V  <  s  and  ranspoits  were  being  built,  or  transfLd  to  Lake 
Champlain,  the  troops  for  nearly  three  months  were  tr-led  .! 
^.upshooters    exercised  m  chaining  upon   im^^  d "  "'i 

-;rt^;l;x^=;J!?,t;:;::  tat 

wore  u,  l,,,vc  l,«.n  ,I,„gKo,!  hy  Ia,„!  ,.,„„„i  t,,„  „„,,,„      ^    , 
Ttc-I,c  ,on   we,^   taken    in  piece,   and   rehuilt  it   sf^^s 

On   W  f      ?  ''l'':;"'-;™ '  "■»™P"rt»  for  the  fle=t. 

On  tl  0  fo,„.  h  of  October,  Carleton  began  l,i.  cautious  ad- 


!  -IrA 


a 


\\\ 

m 


w  ^ 


f! 


GO      AMERICA   IN   ALLIANCE   WITU  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  on.  IT. 


}  !iri 


vance;  on   the  tentli  all  his  fleet  was  in  motion.      Arnold, 
whose  judgment  did  not  equal  his  courage,  moored  his  squad' 
ron  in  the  bay  between  Yalcour  Island  and  the  main,  leaving 
the  great  channel  of  the  lake  undisputed  to  his  enemies,  who, 
on  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  with  a  wind  from  the  north' 
west,  passed  between  Great  and  Yalcour  Islands  and  came  into 
his  rear,  with  much  more  than  t\vice  his  weight  of  metal  and 
twice  as  many  fighting  vessels.     His  defiant  solf-reliance  did 
not  fail  him  ;  forming  a  lino  at  anchor  from  Yalcour  to  the 
main,  he  advanced  in  the  schooner  Iloval  Savage,  supported  by 
his  row-galley.«.     The  wind  favored  him,  while  it  kept  off  the 
Inflexible,  which  was  already  t..  the  south  of  him ;  but  the 
Carleton  was  able  to  get  into  action,  and  was  sustained  by  the 
artillery-boats.     The  galleys  were  driven  back  ;  the  Royal  Sav- 
age, crippled  in  its  masts  and  rigging,  fell  to  the  leeward  and 
was  stranded  on  Yalcour  Island,  M-hence  Arnold,  with  the  crew, 
made  his  way  to  the  Congress.     Meantime,  the  Carleton,  ac- 
companied by  the  artillery-boats,  beat  up  against  the  breeze, 
till  it  came  within  musket-shot  of  the  American  line,  when  it 
opened  Are  from  both  sides.     The  Congress,  on  which  Arnold 
acted  as  gunner,  Avas  hurt  in  her  main-mast  and  yards,  was 
hulled  twelve  times,  and  hit  seven  times  between  wind  and 
water;  the  gondola  New  York  lost  all  her  ofticers  except  her 
captain;  in  the  Washington,  the  first  lieutenant  was  killed,  the 
captaui  and.  master  wounded,  the  main-mast  shot  through  so 
that  it  became  useless ;  a  gondola  was  sunk.     Of  the  British 
artillery-boats,  one,  or  porha])s  two,  went  down.     The  Carleton, 
which,  owing  to  the  whid,  could  receive  no  succor,  suffered 
severely;    Dacres,   its   captain,   fell   senseless   from   a   blow; 
Brown,  a  lieutenant  of  marines,  lost  an  ar-u  ;  l)ut  Fellow,  a  lad 
of  nineteen,  who  succeeded  to  the  command,  carried  on  the 
fight,  to  lu-event  Arnold's  escape.      Just  befo;.;  dark,  naIiou 
sixty  or  more  of  the  Americiuis  and  forty  or  niv  ;  j  .»f  ,ae  Brit- 
ish had  been  killed  or  wounded,  the  aitdlery-boan-,  on  the  sig- 
nal of  recall,  to'ved  the  Carleton  out  of  the  reach  of  shot. 
At  eight  in  the   evening  the  British    flc^  f  anchorx],  having 
their   loft  wang  near  the  mainland,   the   -i-iit   irear  Yalcour 
Island,  with  several  armed  boats  still  f  uther  to  tlie  right,  to 
giuird  the  passage  between  Yalcour  and  Cr..,t  I.lmd."    Ar- 


i 


m 


on.  IT. 


1776. 


BORDER   WAR  IN  AMERICA. 


61 

nold  and  Lis  liighest  officers,  Waterburj  and  WWlesworth 
saw  no  hope  but  in  running  tiie  blockade.  An  hour  or  two 
before  midnight  they  hoisted  anchor  silently  in  the  thick 
darkness;  Wigglesworth, in  the  Trumbull,  led  the  retreat-  the 
gondohisand  small  vessels  followed;  then  came  Waterbu^  in 
the  Washington ;  and,  last  of  all,  Arnold,  in  the  Con^ss  • 
and,_  havmg  a  fair  wind,  they  stole  unobserved  through  the 
British  lleet,  close  to  its  left  wing.  ^ 

When  day  revealed  their  escape,  Carloton,  advancing  slowly 
against  a  southerly  bree.e,  in  the  moriung  of  the  thfrt.  Jh 
at  iialt-pas    twelve,  was  near  enough  t.-  the  fugitives  to  bedn 
a  cannonade.     At  half-past  one  the  wind  came  suddenly  out  of 
the  north,  stnkmg  the  British  sail,  h'rst;  the  Waahington  Z 
overtaken  near  Split  Eock,  and  compelled  to  stvikc.    The  Co^ 
gress,  with  four  gondolas,  keeping  up  a  inmning  fight  of  five 
hours,  sulfei-ed  great  loss,  and  was  ch,^ed  into  a  small  creek  in 
Pant^n  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake.     To  save  them  from  his 
pursuers    Arnold  set  them  on  fire,  with  their  colors  flying 
The  last  to  go  on  shore,  he  formed  their  crews,  and,  in  sigS 
of  the  Enghsh  ships,  marched  off  in  order.  ^ 

Carleton  reproved  his  prisoners  for  engaging  in  the  rebel- 
lion, found  an  excuse  for  them  in  their  orders  from  the  gove  - 
nor  of  Coruiecticut  whose  official  character  the  king  still  recog- 
nised, ana  dismissed  tliem  on  their  parole  ^ 
Po,n?'  *!;^/"''"^-t''^';"th,  master  of  the  lake,  he  landed  at  Crown 
Point,  withm  two  hours'  srJI  ,  f  Ticonderoga,  which  must  havo 

BurL ::'  '^f  ^"'"  ^'  ^^^^^^^^^-  '■^''  '^^  pushed  f'^^^^^^^^^ 
But  he  never  for  a  moment  entertained  such  a  design,  and 
wai  ed  only  for  tidings  from  Jlowe.  These  were  itc  ivc^d 
on  the  twen^y-sov.nth,  ,.  ad  on  the  next  d.y  his  army  belan 
Its  return  to  Canada  for  winter-cpiaiters.  On  the  third  of  So- 
vember  his  rearguard  .uandonedCrownPoia.;  British  officers 
were  as1>  mshed  a.  I.,  retreat,  which  seemed  to  the  Amed^^ 
a  flight  that  couid  not  be  accounted  f<.r  ^^^^^ncms 

a  tack  near  tharU,....n  than  Lee  used  his  undeserved  fame  to 

for  t  len'" -n'^fr-  ^'"^-t.^^  tl'<^"«^""l  <lollarB  as  an  indemnify 
tor  the  possible  forfeiture  of  property  in  England 

Acting  on.  the  suggestion  of  a  stranger,  without  reflection 


!  f  m 


m 


*  [( 


^ 


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I 

i 

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f  1 

63        AMERICA  IN   ALUAxYCE   WITH  FRANCE.     KiMv.;on.iv. 

or  exact  iiKiuiiy,  Leo,  in  tlie  second  week  of  Aiiirust,  at  tlic 
nnheaUliiertt  Bcasoii  of  the  year,  liastilj  niardiod  oif  tlie  Virginia 
and  Nortli  Carolina  troo]w,  witliout  a  1iel(l-])ieee  or  even  a 
medicine-cliost,  on  an  exi)editi()n  a<.,'ainst  J<1i>rida.  IIowo  of 
North  Carolina  and  Monltrie  soon  followed,  and  about  four 
hundred  and  sixty  men  of  South  Carolina,,  with  two  field-pieces, 
were  sent  to  Savannah  by  water  alonj^  the  iidaiid  route.  At 
Sunhury  a  deadly  fevor  broke  out  in  the  camp,  especially  in 
the  battalion  from  the  valley  of  Virginia.  By  this  time  Lee 
nought  to  shift  from  himself  to  Moultrie  the  further  conduct 
of  the  exi)edition,  but  Monltrie  replied  tliat  there  were  no 
available  resources  which  could  render  success  possible.  Early 
ill  September  congress  called  Lee  to  the  North,  to  command  in 
chief  in  case  of  inisha])  to  AVashington  ;  he  at  once  began  the 
journey,  taking  with  him  all  the  continental  force  except  the 
trooi)s  of  North  Carolina. 

lie  left  a  savage  war  raging  in  the  mountains  of  the  two 
Carolijias  and  (Jeorgia.  The  Clicrokecs  were  amazed  at  the 
estrangement  betAvcen  their  father  over  the  water  and  their 
elder  brothers  of  the  Carolinas;  but  Cameron  and  Stuart,  Brit- 
ish agents,  having  an  almost  unlimited  credit  on  the  British 
exchecpier,  swayed  them  to  begin  war.  The  colonists  in  what 
is  now  ea  Tennessee  were  faithful  to  the  patriot  cause. 

Twice  tb  re  uved  warning  from  the  Overhill  Cherokees  to 
remove  lr(>  heir  habitations  ;  but  the  messenger  took  back  a 
deiianco,  and  throats  iVom  the  district  then  called  Fincastle 
county  in  Virginia.  So  stood  the  dierokces,  when  a  deputa- 
tion of  thirteen  or  more  Lidians  came  to  them  from  the  Six 
Nations,  the  Shawnees  and  Delawarcs,  the  :MingoeP,  and  the 
Ottawas.  The  ivioment,  they  said,  \vas  come  to  recover  their 
lost  lands,  Tiio  Shawnees  produced  their  war-tokens,  of  which 
the  young  CluM-okoe  Avarriors  laid  hold,  showing  in  return  a 
war-hatchet  received  about  six  years  before  from  the  northern 
Indians,  When  the  news  of  tlie  arrival  of  (Linton  and  (.\)rn. 
Avallis  off  Charleston  reached  the  lower  .jf-lt  nients  of  the 
Cherokees,  theli-  warriors,  on  each  side  of  the  uiountains,  twen- 
ty-five hundred  in  number,  prepared  for  deeds  of  blood.  The 
Overhills  collected  a  thousand  skins  for  nioccasons,  and  beat 
their  maize  into  fioui-,     A  few  whites  were  to  go  with  them  to 


1770. 


BOUDEli   WAR  IN  AMEKICA. 


63 

invite  all  the  kind's  men  to  join  them,  after  which  they  were 
to  kill  or  dn ve  all  vvi.om  thc.y  eould  find.  While  Henry  Stuirt 
waB  Beelung  to  engage  the  (Jhoetas  and  Chicka,sa,s  a.s  alHe.  the 
Cherokees  sent  a  message  to  the  Creeks  with  the  northern  wai^ 
tokens;  but  the  Creeks  returned  fo.  answer  that  "the  Ch!ro 

to  keep  It        J  lie  rehull  came  too  late;  at  the  news  that  the 
ower  settlements  had  struck  the  horde.,  of  South  Ca^H: 
the  wdy  waz-rmrs  of  all  the  western  setdements  fell  upon  t le 
ndiabitan ts  of  eastern  Tem.essee,  and  roved  as  far  .s    h    cal> 
ms  on  Chnch  nver  and  the  Wolf  Hills,  now  called  Alm^n 
The  comn.on  perd  caused  a  general  rising  of  the  people  of 
eastern  reunessee  and  south-western  Yirgiuia,  of  North  Caro 
]".a  and  the  uplands  of  South  Carolina.    The  O  verhdls  l^ved 
a  check  on   he  twentieth  of  July  at  the  Island  Flats,  in  vX" 
Ilaywood,  the  venerable  historian  of  Tennessee,  calls  a  "mh^ 
c  e  of  a  batt  e,"  for  not  one  white  man  was  .nortaily  wLuled 
wlule  the  Cherokees  lost  forty.     The  next  day  a  party  was 
repulsed  from  Fort  Wttauga  by  James  IlobertscL  Jul  Z 
n«on   of  forty  men.      Colonel  Christian,  with  Virghria  Die 

Watauga,  made  themselves  masters  of  the  UT)])er  sottlo.non^a 
iTe  Tni        '  ^'^^'W'K  party  g.-anted  it,  excoi.t  that  towns 

wt^s ::':;:: """"™  "-^ "»"  '^'^-^ "-  "•»'  ^uve. 

The  warriom  of  the  lower  settlements,  who  hega,!  fj,e  war 
tiers  of  bontl,  Carolina,  lalHng  and  sealpinR  w  thont  distine 

t"  T : td"  "  ""'-"T'' ""' ^""''"'y t« ^t^""^* 

sm  i  1,™    of     1  >  "■""  ^"^  ''^'  ""^  '«'■"'  Cameron  and  a 

small  h.m<l  of  wluto  men,  to  pronioto  a  ri»i„,r  of  the  loyilists 

n    .l,por  Sonth  Carolin.^     Eleven  hun.hvd  "patr  o^  of    ha 

vade,s,  and  u  Aup.st,  destroyed  the  Cher-kee  towns  on  the 

a  party  of  Georgians  hud  waste  those  on  the  otluT     Then 
drawng  nearer  tho  region  of  p..„ipie.s  and  waterWls,  S 


it  i  ] 


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M-i  i; 


in 


^ 


64       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  ch.  iv. 

mark  the  eastern  side  of  tho  Alleghanies,  Williamson's  army 
broke  up  the  towns  on  the  Whitewater,  the  Toxaway,  the 
Estatoe,  and  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  Joeassa,  leaving  not  one 
to  the  east  of  the  Oconee  Mountain.  The  outcasts,  who  had 
taken  jxart  in  scalping  and  murdering,  fled  to  the  Creeks,  Avhose 
neutrality  was  respected. 

In  September,  establishing  a  well-garrisoned  fort  on  the 
Seneca,  and  marching  up  War  Woman's  creek,  Williamson 
passed  through  Rabun  gap,  destroyed  the  to^^^^s  on  the  Little 
Tennessee  as  far  as  the  TJnica  Mountain,  and  then  toiled  over 
the  dividing  ridge  into  the  Hiwassee  valley,  sparing  or  razing 
the  towns  at  his  ^\dll.  There  he  was  joined  by  Eutherford  of 
North  Carolina,  who  had  promptly  assembled  in  the  district  of 
Salisbury  an  army  of  more  than  two  thousand  men,  crossed 
the  Alleghanies  at  the  Swannanoa  gap,  forded  the  French 
Broad,  and  penetrated  into  the  middle  and  valley  towns,  of 
which  he  laid  waste  six-and-thirty.  Germain,  in  November, 
wrote  to  his  trusty  agent :  "  I  expect  with  impatience  to  hear 
that  you  have  prevailed  with  the  Creeks  and  Choctaws  to  join 
the  Cherokees  in  a  general  confederacy  agamst  the  rebels." 
But  the  Choctaws  never  inclined  to  the  war ;  the  Chickasaws 
receded ;  the  Creeks  kept  wisely  at  home ;  and  the  Cherokees 
were  forced  to  beg  for  mercy.  At  a  talk  in  Charleston,  in 
February  1777,  the  Man-killer  said :  "  You  have  destroyed  my 
homes,  but  it  is  not  my  eldest  brother's  fault ;  it  is  the  fault  of 
my  father  over  the  water ; "  and,  at  the  peace  in  the  following 
May,  they  gave  up  their  lands  as  far  as  the  watershed  of  the 
Oconee  Mountain. 

Nor  was  the  overaAving  of  the  wild  men  the  only  good  that 
came  out  of  this  bootless  eagerness  of  the  British  minister  to 
crash  America  by  an  Indian  confederacy ;  henceforward  the 
settlors  of  Tennessee  upheld  American  independence ;  and, 
putting  their  mind  into  one  word,  they  named  their  district 
Washington. 


CH.  IV. 


1776. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


65 


CHAPTER  Y. 

WHITE   PLAINS.      FOKT   WASHINGTON. 

October  1-Novembeb  16,  1776. 

For  nearly  four  weeks  Washington  and  the  main  body  of 
his  army  remained  on  the  heights  of  Harlem.     The  uneven 
upland  Lttle  more  than  a  half-mile  wide  and,  except  at  a  few 
points,  less  than  two  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  falls  awaT 
precipitously  toward  the  Hudson  ;  along  the  Harlem  river  it  is 
boimdea  for  more  than  two  miles  by  walls  of  primitive  rock  or 
declivities  steep  as  an  escai-pment.     Toward  Manhattanville  it 
ended  in  pathless  crags.     There  existed  no  highway  from    he 
south  except  the  narrow  one  which,  near  the  One  Hundred  Td 
Forty-fourth  street,  yet  winds  up  Breakneck  Hill      The  a^ 
proach  from  that  quarter  was  guarded  by  three  parallel  uZ 
of  which  the  first  and  weakest  ran  from  about  the  One  Hun 
dred  and  Forty-eighth  street  on  the  east  to  thp  ol  TT     7  . 

•  J  ,  parallel,  the  house  which  Waqliino-fnTi 

occupied  stood  on  high  ground  overlooking  the  pZs^h" 

Jnst  beyond  Fort  W..hi.,gt„n  the  heighta  eleata^under, 


I! 


66 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,     sr.  iv. ;  en.  v. 


and  the  road  to  Albany,  by  an  easy  descent,  passes  for  about 
a  mile  through  the  rocky  gorge.  Laurel  Hill,  the  highest  cliff 
on  the  Ilai-leni  side,  was  occupied  by  a  redoubt ;  tlie  opposite 
hill,  near  tlie  Hudson,  known  afterward  as  Fort  Trvon,  was 
still  more  difficult  of  iccess.  Thence  both  ridges  fall  abruptly 
to  a  valley  which  crosses  the  island  from  Tubby  Hook.  Be- 
yond this  pass  the  land  to  King's  Bridge  on  the  right  is  a  plain 
and  marsh  ;  on  the  left  a  new  but  less  lofty  spur  springs  up 
and  runs  to  Spyt  den  Duyvel  creek,  by  which  the  Harlem 
joins  tlie  Hudson.  This  part  of  New  York  Island  was  defend- 
ed by  Fort  Independence,  on  the  high  ridge  north  of  Spyt  den 
Duyvel ;  a  series  of  redoubts  guarded  Fordham  Heights,  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Harlem ;  an  earthwork  was  laid  out  above 
Williams's  Bridge ;  and  on  the  third  of  October  a  guard  of 
riflemen  had  their  alarm-post  at  the  pass  from  Throg's  Neck. 
Greene  commanded  a  body  in  Jersey,  at  Fort  Lee,  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  palisades,  where  they  were  seventy-three  feet  higher 
than  Fort  Washington. 

Washington  took  all  care  to  keep  open  the  line  of  retreat 
in  his  rear;  but  he  would  have  awaited  an  attack  from  the 
south,  for  it  would  not  have  menaced  his  communications. 

The  army  eagerly  looked  forward  to  the  coming  of  Lee. 
"His  arrival,"  said  Tilghman,  the  most  faithful  member  of 
Washington's  staff,  "  will  greatly  relieve  our  Avorthy  general, 
who  has  too  much  for  any  mortal  upon  his  hands."  "Pray 
hasten  his  departure,  he  is  much  wanted,"  was  the  message  of 
Jay  to  a  friend  in  Philadelphia.  Yet  Lee  had  not  one  talent  of 
a  commander.  He  never  could  conceive  anything  as  a  whole 
or  comprehend  a  plan  of  action ;  but,  by  the  hal)it  of  his  mind, 
would  fasten  upon  some  detail,  and  always  find  fault.  As  an 
Englishman,  he  affected  to  l<x)k  down  upon  his  present  asso- 
ciates as  "very  bad  company;  "  for  he  had  the  national  pride 
of  his  countrymen,  though  not  their  loyalty.  His  alienation 
from  Britain  grew  out  of  petulance  at  being  neglected ;  and, 
had  a  chance  of  favor  been  vhrown  to  him,  he  would  have 
snapped  most  eagerly  at  the  bait.  He  esteemed  the  people 
into  whose  service  he  had  entered  unworthy  of  a  place  among 
tlie  nations ;  and  if,  by  fits,  he  played  the  part  of  a  zealot  in 
their  cause,  his  mind  always  came  back  to  his  first  idea,  that 


1776. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


67 


tliey  Lad  only  to  consider  how  thoy  could  "return  to  their 
former  state  of  relation."     lie  used  afterward  to  say  that 
'  things  never  would  have  gone  so  far  had  Lis  advice  Leen 
taken ;  "  and  he  reconciled  himself  to  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence by  the  Americans,  only  that  there  might  be  some- 
thing "  to  cede  »  as  tLe  price  of  "  accommodation."     Awaiting 
tLe  cluef  command  in  case  of  a  vacancy,  Le  looked  upon  Lirn- 
sell  as  the  head  of  a  party,  and  wearied  congress  with  clamor 
for  a  separate  command  on  the  Delaware  ;  as  they  persisted  in 
sending  him  to  the  camp  of  W..hington,  he  secretly  mocked 
at  them  as  "a  stable  of  cattle  that  stumbled  at  every  step  " 

Lee  had  "  advised  that  now  was  the  time  to  make  up  with 
(^reat  Britain,"  and  had  j^romised  for  that  end  to  "use  his 
nifluence  with  congress."    On  that  question  Pennsylvania  was 
divided.     Its  convention,  composed  of  new  men,  and  guided 
mainly  by  a  school-master,  the  honest  but  inexperienced  James 
Cannon,  formed  a  constitution,  under  the  com])lex  influence  of 
abstract  truths  and  an  angry  quarrel  with  the  supporters  of  the 
old  charter  of  the  colony.    The  elective  franchise  was  extended 
to  every  resident  tax-payer,  and  legislative  power  concentrated 
ma  single  assembly.     Moreover,  that  assembly,  in  joint  ballot 
with  a  council  whose  members  were  too  few  to  be  of  much 
weight  m  a  decision  by  numbers,  was  to  select  the  president 
and  ^nce-president.      The  president  had  no  higher  functions 
than  those  of  the  president  of  a  council-board.     This  constitu- 
tion, which  satisfied  neither  the  feelings  nor  the  reflective  iudg- 
ment  of  a  numerical  majority  in  the  state,  was  put  in  action 
without  being  previously  submitted  to  the  citizens  for  ratifica- 
tion ;  and  it  provided  no  mode  for  its  amendment  but  throun-h 
the  vote  of  two  thirds  of  all  persons  elected  to  a  board  of  eli- 
sors, wLicL  M^as  to  be  cLosen  for  one  year  only  in  seven     From 
every  elector,  before  Lis  vote  could  be  received,  an  oatL  or 
athrmation  was   required  tliat  Le  would  neitLer  directly  nor 
indirectly  do  anytLing  injurious  to  tLe  constitution  as  estab- 
lisLed  by  tlie  convention.     TLis  requirement,  wLicL  a  lai-e 
l>art  of  tLe  iuLabitants,  especially  of  tLt  Quakers,  could  not 
accept  and  suflered  in  consequence  virtual  disfrancLisement 
rent  tlie  state  into  imbittered  factions.     To  tLe  proprietary 
party  tlie  new  government  was  Lateful  as  a  usurpation ;  to 


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r.8         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITII  FRANCE,     ep.  iv. ;  on.  v. 

Robert  Morris,  Cadwalader,  Eush,  Wayne,  and  many  others  of 
"the  best  of  the  whigs,"  tlie  uncontrolled  will  of  a  single  legis- 
lative assembly  seemed  a  form  of  tyranny ;  while  the  want^of 
executive  energy  took  away  aU  hope  of  calling  the  resources  of 
the  state  fully  into  action. 

The  constitution  of  New  Jersey  would  be  self-annulled,  "if 
a  reconciliation  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  should 
take  place;"  the  president  of  the  body  which  framed  it  op- 
posed mdependeuce  to  the  last,  and  still  leaned  to  a  reunion 
with  Britain ;  the  highest  officers  in  the  pubUc  service  were 
taken  from  those  who  had  st(H)d  against  the  disniption ;  the 
assembly  had  adjourned  on  the  eighth  "through  mere  want 
of_  members  to  do  business,"  leaving  unfinished  almost  every- 
thmg  which  they  should  have  done ;  the  open  country  could 
not  hope  for  success  in  resisting  an  invading  anny ;  "  Hie  tories, 
taking  new  hf e,  in  one  of  the  largest  counties  were  c    eulating 
for  subscription"  complaints  of  the  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, because  it  was  a  bar  to  a  treaty.     Lee,  alleging  the  con- 
currence of  "  the  most  active  friends  to  the  cause  in^J^ew  Jer- 
sey and  the  other  provinces  he  had  passed  through,"  from 
Princeton  proposed  that  congress  should  authorize  an  offer  to 
open  a  negotiation  with  Lord  Howe  on  his  own  terms. 

Washington  at  this  time,  "bereft  of  every  ])eaceful  mo- 
ment, losing  all  comfort  and  happiness,"  compelled  to  watch 
the  effects  of  the  wilfulness  of  congress  in  delaying  to  raise  an 
army,  and  least  of  all  thinking  that  any  one  could  covet  his 
office,  saw  the  difficulty  of  doing  any  essential  service  to  the 
cause  by  continuing  in  command  and  the  inevitable  ruin  that 
would  follow  his  retirement.     "  Such  is  my  situation,"  said  he, 
privately,  "that,  if  I  were  to  wish  the  bitterest  curse  to  an 
enemy  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  I  should  put  him  in  my  stead 
with  my  feelings."     Again  he  addressed  congress :  "  Give  me 
leave  to  say  your  affairs  are  in  a  more  unpromisinc?  way  than 
you  seem  to  apprehend;  your  army  is  on  the  eve  of  its  disso- 
lution.    True  it  is,  you  have  voted  a  larger  one  in  lieu  of  it ; 
but  the  season  is  late,  and  there  is  a  material  difference  be- 
tween voting  battalions  and  raising  men."     With  this  warning 
m  his  hands,  John  Adams,  the  cliairman  of  the  board  of  war, 
said;  "The  British  force  is  so  divided,  they  will  do  no  great 


1776. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


G9 


matter  more  this  fall;"  and  though  officially  informed  that 
the  American  arhij  would  disband,  that  all  the  measures  thus 
far  adopted  for  raising  a  new  one  were  hut  fruitless  experi- 
ments, he  asked,  and  on  the  tenth  of  October  obtained,  leave 
of  absence  at  the  time  when  there  was  the  most  need  of  energy 
to  devise  relief.     On  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  previous 
to  his  departure,  news  came  that,  two  days  before,  two  Brit- 
ish ships,  of  forty-four  guns  each,  with  three  or  four  tenders, 
under  an  easy  southerly  breeze,  ran  through  the  impediments 
in  the  Hudson  without  the  least  difficulty  and  captured  or 
destroyed  the  four  American  row-galleys  in  the  river     Yet 
Congress  would  not  conceive  the  necessity  of  further  retreat  • 
refernng  the  letter  to  the  board  of  war,  they  instantly  "desired 
Washmgton,  if  practicable,  hy  every  art  and  at  whatever  ex- 
pense, to  obstruct  ellectually  the  navigation  between  the  forts 
as  well  to  prevent  the  regress  of  the  enemies'  frigates  lately 
gone  up  as  to  hinder  them  from  receiving  succors."     Greene 
encouraged  this  rash  confidence.     After  the  British  shii.^-of- 
war  had  passed  up  the  river  he  said :  "  Om-  army  are  so  strong- 
ly fortified,  and  so  much  out  of  the  command  of  the  shipping 
we  have  little  more  to  fear  this  campaign." 

^  Just  then  Howe,  leaving  his  finished  lines  above  Macgow- 

an  s  pass  to  the  care  of  three  brigades  under  Percy,  embarked 

the  van  of  his  army  on  the  East  river,  and  landed  at  Throg's 

JNeck.    Washington,  who  had  foreseen  this  attempt  to  gain  his 

rear,  seasonably  occupied  the  causeway  and  bridge  which  led 

from  Ihrog  s  Neck  by  Hand's  riflemen,  a  New  York  regiment, 

the  regiment  of  Prescott  of  Pepperell,  and  an  artillery  com' 

pany;  posted  guards  on  aU  the  defensible  grounds  between  the 

two  armies;  began  the  evacuation  of  New  York  Island  by 

sending  Macdougall's  brigade  befor.  nightfall*  four  miles  be- 

*  The  origin  of  the  retirement  of  the  American  army  from  New  York  has 
been  ,ost  mdustriously  misrepresented.     "The  movement  originated  wi  h  Ge" 

olun  R^r^   t  •^°'  "'^'  ^'  ^'°  """'^  '••  ^"'  -'■'  ^-  -^substantially  fol- 

r  er  d"  t     :,^'^.f '  ','  T'     ««  far  is  this  from  the  truth,  the  movem  J  was 

0  deed  before  the  .dea  had  entered  the  mind  of  Lee,  as  appears  from  his  letters 

tl7   vt^f"'  ""'  T  "°"  *'''^"  """''  ''"''''''''  '  ^'«y  -  ^-  before  his 

the  B   ti  h'      fr.     acknowledges  the  reeeipt  of  his  orders  on  the  very  day 
the  Buti.h  landed,  Force,  n.,  1014;  confirmed  by  Heath  in  his  Journal  for  the 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


h 


70         AMEUICA  IX   ALLIANCE  WITH   FRANCE.    EP.iv.;on.v. 

yon,l  Tvingr's  Bridge ;  unci  detached  a  corps  to  White  Plains  to 
whicli  i.lMce  he  ordered  his  stores  in  Connecticut  to  be  trans- 
ferred.   On  the  thirteenth  a  council  of  war  was  called,  but  was 
adjo.irned  that  (h-eene  and  Mercer  might  receive  a  sunnnons 
and  Lee  be  i)resent.     On  tlie  fourteenth,  in  obedience  to  the 
indiscreet   order   of   congress,   Colonel   Rufus    Putnam   was 
charged  "to  attend  particuhirly  to  the  works  about  Mount 
VV  ashnigton,  and  to  increase  the  obstructions  in  the  river  as 
fast  as  possible;"   while  Leo,  still   in  New  Jersey,  blamed 
the  commander-in  cJiief  for  not  threatening  to  resign.     Later 
in  the  day  Lee  crossed  the  river,  and  found  New  ^'ork  Island 
already  more  than  half  evacuated.     Kiding  in  pursuit  of  Wash- 
ington, who  was  directing  in  person  the  defence  along  East  and 
1\  est  Chester,  he  wius  assigned  to  the  diWsion  beyond  King's 
iirulge,  with  the  re.piest  tliat  he  would  exercise  no  command 
till  he  couM  make  himself  ac.piainted  with  the  arrangements 
ot  his  post. 

In  the  following  night  Mercer,  at  first  accompanied  by 
Cxrecncmade  a  descent  upon  Staten  Island,  and  at  daybreak 
on  the  hfteenth  took  seventeen  prisoners  at  Richmond. 

To  the  council  of  M'ar  which  assembled  on  the  sixteenth 
AVnshmgton  produced  ample  evidence  of  the  intention  of  the 
enemy  to  surround  his  arn.iy.     In  their  reply,  all  except  George 
(  Imton  agreed  that  a  change  of  position  was  necessary  « to  pie- 
veut  the  enemy  cutting  olT  the  communication  with  the  noun- 
try.       Lee,  who  came  to  the  meeting  to  persuade  its  members 
that  there  was  no  danger  whatever  of  an  attack,  joined  in  the 
wise  decision  which  the  best  of  the  generals  had  formed  before 
they  came  together,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  vehement 
support  of  hi.  new  opinion.*     The  council  with  ai)parent  una- 
nimity advised  the  commander-in-chief  that  "Fort  Washhigton 
be  retained  as  long  as  possible." 

s«.nc  day,  Iloatl,,  76;  l,v  Colonel  Ewin^  to  Maryland  Council  of  Safotv,  13  Octo- 
ber  ,>6,m  Force-,  ii.,  I..25 ;  t,y  J.  Rccd  to  hi.  «ifo,  13  October  177C,"  in  Rccd'a 
Kcod,  1..  .41 :  '  The  principal  jmrt  of  this  army  is  moved  olf  this  island."  These 
efters  were  all  written  before  Lee  arrived,  and  before  he  knew  anything  about 
the  movement.  '        ° 

*  That  Lee's  opinion  w-xs  new  appears  from  his  own  letters.  Gordon  in  his 
account  of  the  couneil.  is  grossly  misled.  He  makes  Greene  figure  largely:  but 
ureeno  was  not  peseut  at  it,  as  the  record  shows.     Force  ii    1117 


1778. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


71 


After  five  days,  which  Howe  passed  on  T]>rog's  Neck  in 
bringing  up  more  brigades  and  collecting  stores,  he  gave  up 
the  hoi)e  of  getting  directly  in  Washington's  rear,  and  resolved 
to  strike  at  AVhite  Plains.     On  the  eighteenth  the  British 
crossing  in  boats  to  Pell's  IsTeek,  landed  just  below  East  Ches- 
ter, at  the  mouth  of  Hutchinson  river.     Glover,  with  one 
brigade,  engaged  their  advanced  party  in  a  short  but  sharp 
action,  which  was  commended  in  general  orders.     That  night 
the  British  lay  upon  their  arms,  with  their  left  upon  a  creek 
toward  East  Chester,  and  their  right  near  New  Rochelle      In 
the  march  to  White  Plains  the  Americans  liad  the  advantage 
of  the  shortest  distance,  the  greatest  number  of  efficient  troops 
and  the  strongest  ground.     The  river  Bronx,  a  small  stream  of 
Westchester  county,  nearly  parallel  with  the  Hudson,  scarcely 
thirty  miles  long,  draining  a  very  narrow  valley,  and  almost 
everywhere  fordable,  ran  tln-ough  thick  forests  by  the  side  of 
a  succession  of  steep  ridges.     The  hills  to  the  north  of  White 
Plains  continue  to  the  lakes  which  are  the  sources  of  the 
Broiix,  and  join  the  higher  range  which  bounds  the  basin  of 
the  Croton  river.     The  Americans,  who  were  in  fine  spirits 
moved  upon  the  west  side,  j)ressing  the  British  toward  the 
sound,  taking  care  not  to  be  outhanked,  and  protecting  their 
march  by  a  series  of  intrenched  camps.     Deficient  in   the 
means  of  transportation,  they  themselves  dragged  their  artil- 
ery,  and  cai-ried  what  they  could  of  their  baggage  on  their 
backs.  . 

Howe  manifested  extreme  caution;   his  march  was  close 
his  encampments  compact.     He  was  beset  by  difficulties  in  a 
country  so  covered  with  forests,  swamps,  and  creeks  that  it 
was  not  open  in  the  least  degree  to  be  known  but  from  post  to 
post,  or  from  the  accounts  of  the  inhabitants  who  M'ere  entire- 
ly Ignorant  of  military  description."    After  halting  two  days 
for  two  regiments  of  light  dragoons,  on  the  twenty-first,  leav- 
ing Ileister  with  three  brigades  to  occupy  the  fonner  encamp- 
ment, he  advanced  with  the  right  and  centre  of  his  army  two 
miles  above  New  Rochelle.     To  counteract  him,  Washington 
transferred  his  head-(]uartcrs  to  Valentine's  Hill,  and  put  in 
motion  Heath's  division,  which  marched  in  the  night  to  White 
1  iains,  and  on  the  following  day  occupied  the  strong  grounds 


ii! 


■i 


I  i;i 


!(: 


72         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV, ;  en.  V. 


north  of  the  village,  so  as  to  protect  the  upper  road  from  Con- 
necticut.     In  the  same  night  Haslet  of  Delaware  surprised  a 
picket  of  Eogers's  regiment  of  rangers,  and  brought  off  thirty- 
six  prisoners,  a  pair  of  colors,  and  sixty  muskets.    A  few  hours 
later.  Hand,  with  two  hundred  rifles,  encountered  an  equal 
n  mber  of  yagers  and  drove  them  from  the  field.      Howe  felt 
the  need  of  a  greater  force.    On  the  twenty-second,  the  second 
division  of  the  Hessians  and  the  regiment  of  Waldeckers,  who 
had  arrived  from  a  very  long  voyage  only  four  days  before, 
were  landed  by  Knyphausen  at  Kew  Rochelle,  where  they 
remained  to  protect  the  communications  with  New  York. 
This  released  the  three  brigades  with  Heister ;  but,  before 
they  could  move,  Washington,  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
third,  installed  his  head-quarters  at  White  Plains,  and  thus 
baffled  the  plan  of  getting  into  his  rear.     On  the  twenty-fifth 
the  British  army  crossed  the  country  from  New  liocheUe  to 
the  New  York  road,  and  encamped  at  Scarsdale  with  the 
Bronx  in  front,  the  right  of  his  army  being  about  four  miles 
from  White  Plains.    While  Howe's  was  waiting  to  be  joined 
by  Heister's  division,  the  ever-querulous  Lee  and  the  rear  of 
the  American  army  reached  Washington's  camp,  without  loss, 
except  of  sixty  or  seventy  barrels  of  provisions. 

The  twenty-seventh  was  marked  by  a  combined  movement 
of  the  Britii-h  who  had  been  left  at  New  York  against  Fort 
Washington.     A  ship-of-war  came  up  to  cut  off  the  com- 
raunication  across  the  river,  while  the  troops  under  Percy, 
from  Ilariem  plain,  made  a  disposition  for  an  attack;   but 
Greene  animated  the  defence  by  a  visit ;  Magaw  promptly 
manned  his  lines  on  the  south  ;  the  vessel  of  war  suffered  so 
severely  from  two  eighteen-pounders  on  the  Jersey  and  one 
on  the  New  York  side  that  she  slipped  her  cable  and  es- 
caped by  the  aid  of  the  tide  and  four  tow-boats.     Elated  at 
the  result,  Greene  sent  to  congress  by  express  a  glowing  ac- 
count of  the  day  ;  «  the  troops,"  he  said,  "  were  in  high  spir- 
its,  and    in   every  engagement,  since  the  retreat  from  New 
York,  had  given  the  enemy  a  dnibbing."     Lasher,  on  the  next 
day,  obeyed  orders  sent  from  Washington's  camp  to  quit  Fort 
Lidependence,  which  was  insulated,  and  upon  any  considerable 
attack  must  have  fallen ;  but  Greene,  under  the  illusions  of 


1776. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


73 


iuexpcrience  and  liasty  judgment,  complained  of  the  evacua- 
tion, and  wTote  murmuringly  to  Wasliington  that  the  "fort 
might  have  kept  the  enemy  at  bay  for  several  days." 

On  the  bright  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  the  army  of 
IIoAve,  expecting  a  battle  which  was  to  ba  the  crisis  of  the 
war,  adv;  need  in  two  divisions,  its  right  under  Clinton,  its  left 
under  Heister.  At  Hart's  Comer  they  drove  back  a  large 
party  of  Americans  under  Spencer.  As  their  several  columns 
came  within  three  quarters  of  a  mile  of  "Wliite  Plains,  Wash- 
ington's army  was  seen  in  order  of  battle  awaiting  an  attack 
on  liilly  ground  of  his  own  choice,  defended  by  an  abattis  and 
two  nearly  parallel  lines  of  intrenchments,  his  right  flank  and 
rear  protected  by  a  bend  in  the  Bronx,  his  left  resting  on  very 
broken  ground  too  difficult  to  be  assailed. 

Howe  was  blamed  for  not  having  immediately  stormed  the 
American  centre,  which  was  the  only  vulnerable  point.    Wash- 
ington  had  no   misgivings,  for  his  army,  numbering  rather 
more  than  thirteen  thousand  men    against  thirteen  thousand, 
was  in  good  spirits,  confident  in  itself  and  in  him.      Howe 
considered  that  the  chances  of  a  repulse  might  be  against  him  • 
that,  should  he  carry  one  line,  there  would  remain  another ; 
that,  if  ^  he  scaled  ooth,  "  the  rebel   army  could  not  be  de- 
stroyed,"' because  the  ground  in  their  rear  was  such  as  they 
could  wish  for  securing  a  retreat,  so  that  the  hazard  of  an  at- 
tack exceeded  any  advantage  he  could  gain.     But,  as  he  had 
come  so  far,  he  seemed  forced  to  do  something.    A  corps  of 
Americans,  about  fourteen  hundred  strong,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Macdougall,  occupied  Chatterton  Hill,  west  of  the 
Bronx  and  less  than  a  mile  west-south-west  of  Washington's 
camp,  and  thus  covered  the  road  from  Tarrytown  to  White 
Plains.    Howe  directed  eight  regiments,  about  four  thousand 
men,  to  carry  this  position,  while  the  rest  of  his  army,  with 
their  left  to  the  Bronx,  seated  themselves  on  the  ground  as 
lookers-on. 

A  heavy  but  ineffective  cannonade  by  the  British  across 
the  Bronx  was  feebly  returned  by  tlie  three  field-pieces  of 
the  Americans  on  the  hill.  The  Hessian  regiment  Lossberg, 
supported^  by  Leslie  with  the  second  English  brigade  and 
Uonop  with  the  Hessian  givnadiers,  forded  the  Bronx  and 


l! 


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74         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    EP.iy.;cn.y. 

racoi-ched  under  cover  of  tlie  LiU,  until  by  facing  to  the  Jeft 
their  cohnnn  became  a  hne  parallel  with  that  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, whicli  was  composed  of  the  remains  of  the  regiments  of 
Erooks  of  Massachusetts,  Haslet  of  Delaware,  Webb  of  Con- 
uocticut,  Smallwood  of  Maryland,  and  one  of  New  York     The 
cannonade  ceased,  and  the  British  troops,  thi-ough  a  shower  of 
bullets,  climbed  the  rocky  hillside.     For  fifteen  minutes  they 
met  with  a.  determined  resistance,  especially  from  the  men  of 
Maryland  and  Delaware.     In  the  American  camp  it  seemed 
that  the  British  were  worsted;  but  just  then  liall,  who  had 
brought  up  two  regiments  by  a  more  southeriy  and  easier 
route,  charged  the  Americans  on  their  flank.     Macdougall  at- 
tacked in  flank  and  front  by  thrice  his  o^^^l  numbers,  conducted 
his  party  over  the  Bronx  by  the  road  and  bridge  to  Washino-- 
ton  e  camp.    The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  less  than  a  hundred,  of  the  British  and  Hessians  at  least 
two  hundred  and  twenty -nine. 

The  occupation  of  Chatterton  Hill  enfeebled  Howe  by 
dividing  his  forces ;  and  he  waited  two  days  for  four  battal- 
ions from  ^ew  York  and  two  from  New  Rochelle.  Washing- 
ton employed  the  respite  in  removing  his  sick  and  his  stores, 
and  throwing  up  strong  works  on  higher  grounds  in  his  rear. 

A  drenching  rain  in  the  morning  of  the  thirty-first  was 
Howe  s  excuse  for  postponing  the  attack  one  day  more ;  in 
che  fol  owmg  night  AVashington,  perceiving   that  Howe  had 
hnisiied  batteries  and  received  reinforcements,  drew  back  his 
army  to  high  ground  above  White  Plains.     There,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  long  cannon-shot,  he  was  unapproachable     .  front, 
and  he  held  the  passes  in  his  rear.     But  under  the  system  of 
short  enlistments  his  strength  was  wasting  away.     The  miUtia 
would  soon  have  a  right  to  go  home,  and  did  not  always  wait 
for  their  discharge.    "  It  was  essential  to  keep  up  some  shadow 
of  an  army;''  nevertheless  "not  a  single  officer  was  yet  com- 
missioned to  recruit." 

Thus  far  Howe  had  but  a  poor  tale  to  tell;  he  must  do 
more,  or  go  mto  winter  quarters  in  shame.  Putnam  had  an 
overweening  confidence  in  the  impregnability  of  Fort  Wash- 
ington; on  his  parting  request,  Greene,  whose  command  now 
included  that  fort,  had  not  scrupled  to  increase  its  garrison  by 


1776. 


FORT  WASHINGTON. 


76 


sending  over  between  two  and  three  handred  men.  The  regi- 
ments which  had  cliarge  of  its  defence  were  chiefly  Pennsyl- 
vanians  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Magaw,  who  had  passed 
from  the  bar  of  Philadelphia  to  the  army. 

On  the  last  day  of  October,  Greene  wrote  to  Washington 
for  instructions;  but,  without  waiting  for  them,  he  again  rein- 
forced Magaw  with  the  rifle  regiment  of  Eawhngs.     On  the 
second  of  November,  Knyphausen  left  New  Kochelle,  and 
with  his  brigade  tok  possession  of  the  upper  part  of  New 
York  Island.     On  the  fifth  Howe  suddenly  broke  up  his  en- 
campment in  front  of  Washington's  lines  and  moved  to  Dobb's 
Ferry ;  the  American  council  of  war  Avhich  was  called  on  the 
sixth  at  White  Plains  agreed  unanimously  to  throw  troops  into 
the  Jerseys,  but  made  no  change  in  its  former  decision  "  to 
retain  Fort  Washington  as  long  as  possible."     That  decision 
rested  on  a  resolution  of  congress ;  to  that  body,  therefore, 
Washington,  on  tlie  day  of  the  council,  explained  the  approach! 
ing  dissolution  of  his  own  army,  and  "that  the  enemy  -,.ould 
bend  their  force  against  Fort  Washington  and  invest  it  imme- 
diately."     But  "  the  gentry  at  Philadelphia  loved  fighting, 
and,  in  their  passion  for  brilliant  actions  with  raw  troops,' 
wished  to  see  matters  put  to  the  hazard."     Greene  was  pos^ 
sessed  with  the  same  infatuation ;  when,  on  the  sixth,  three 
vessels  passed  the  obstructions  in  the  Hudson,  he  wrote  to 
Washington  "  that  they  were  prodigiously  shattered  from  the 
fire  of  his  cannon  ; "  and  at  the  same  time,  reporting  that  Rail 
had  advanced  with  his  column  to  Tubby  Hook,  he  added: 
"  They  will  not  be  able  to  penetrate  any  farther." 

Washington  saw  more  cleiu-ly,  and  on  the  eighth  he  gave  to 
Greene  his  final  instructions:  "  The  passage  of  the  three  vessels 
up  the  North  river  is  so  plain  a  proof  of  the  inefficacy  of  all 
the  obstnictions  thrown  into  it  that  it  will  fully  justify  a 
change  in  the  disposition.  If  we  cannot  prevent  vessels  from 
passing  up,  and  the  enemy  are  possessed  of  the  surrounding 
country,  what  valuable  purpose  can  it  answer  to  attempt  to 
hold  a  post  from  which  the  expected  benefit  cannot  be  had  ? 
I  am  therefore  inclined  to  think  that  it  will  not  be  prudent  to 
hazard  the  men  and  stores  at  Mount  Washington  ;  but,  as  you 
are  on  the  spot,  I  leave  it  to  you  to  give  such  orders  as  to  evac- 

VOL.  V. — 7 


oil 


4 


K,: 


,     .    ;-       h 


76         AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    ep.iv.;ou.v. 

uating  Mount  Washington  as  you  may  judge  best,  and  so  far 
revoking  the  order  given  to  Colonel  Magaw  to  defend  it  to  the 
last.  So  far  as  can  be  collected  from  the  various  sources  of 
intelligence,  the  enemy  must  design  a  penetration  into  Jersey, 
and  to  fall  do\vn  upon  your  post.  You  will  therefore  imme- 
diately have  all  the  stores  removed  which  you  do  not  deem 
necessary  for  your  defence." 

On  the  ninth  he  began  his  removal  to  the  Jerseys  by 
sending  over  Putnam  with  five  thousand  troops,  of  which  he 
was  himseK  to  take  the  command.  On  the  tenth,  Lee,  who, 
with  about  seven  thousand  five  hundred  continental  troops  and 
mihtia,  was  to  remain  behiud  till  all  doubt  respecting  Howe's 
movements  should  be  over,  was  warned,  in  written  orders,  to 
guard  against  surprises,  and  to  transport  all  his  baggage  and 
stores  to  the  northward  of  Croton  river,  with  this  final  mstruc- 
tion  :  "  If  the  enemy  should  remove  the  greater  part  of  their 
force  to  the  west  side  of  Hudson's  river,  I  have  no  doubt  of 
your  following,  with  all  possible  despatch."  But  to  Lee  the 
prospect  of  a  separate  command  was  so  alluring  that  he  wes 
resolved  not  to  join  his  superior. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  the  commander-in-chief, 
attended  by  Heath,  Stiriing,  the  two  Clintons,  Mifflin,  and 
others,  went  up  the  defile  of  the  Highlands,  past  Forts  Inde- 
pendence and  Clinton  and  the  unfinished  Fort  Montgomery, 
as  far  as  the  island  on  which  Fort  Constitution  commanded  the 
sudden  bend  in  the  river.  A  glance  of  the  eye  revealed  the 
importance  of  the  west  point,  which  it  was  now  detennined  to 
fortify  according  to  the  wish  of  the  New  York  j^rovincial  con- 
vention. Yery  early  on  the  twelfth,  "Washington  rode  M'ith 
Heath  to  reconnoitre  the  gorge  of  the  Highlands ;  then  giving 
him,  under  written  instructions,  the  command  of  the  posts  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  with  three  thousand  troops  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  and  New  York  to  secure  them,  he  crossed 
at  ten  o'clock,  and  rode  through  Smith's  "  clove  "  to  Hacken- 
eack.  His  arrangements,  as  the  events  proved,  were  the  very 
best  that  his  circumstances  permitted,  and  he  might  reasonably 
hope  to  check  the  progress  of  Howe  in  New  Jersey  at  the 
river. 

But  Greene  framed  measures  contrary  to  AVashington's  in- 


1776 


FORT  WASHINGTON". 


77 

tentions  and  orders.  He  fell  to  questioning  the  propriety  of 
the  directions  whicb  he  received ;  insisted  that  Fort  Washing- 
ton should  be  kept,  even  ^-ith  the  certainty  of  its  investment  • 
gave  assurance  that  the  garrison  was  in  no  great  conceivable 
danger,  and  could  easily  be  brought  off  at  any  time;  and  cited 
Magaw's  opinion,  that  the  fort  could  stand  a  siege  tiU  Decem- 
ber. Instead  of  evacuating  it,  he  took  upon  himself,  in  dis- 
regard of  his  instructions,  to  send  over  reinforcements,  chiefly 
of  Pennsylvanians,  none  from  New  England;  and,  in  a  du-ect 
report  to  congress,  counteracting  the  m-gent  remonstrances  of 
his  chief,  he  encouraged  that  body  to  believe  that  the  attempt 
of  Howe  to  possess  liimself  of  it  would  fail. 

Before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth,  Washington  arrived  at 
Fort  Lee,  and,  to  his  great  grief,  found  what  Greene  had  done. 
"  The  importance  of  the  Hudson  river,  and  the  sanguine  wishes 
of  aU  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  possessing  it,"  had  induced 
congress  to  intervene  by  an  order,  which  left  Washington  no 
authority  to  evacuate  Fort  Washington  except  from  necessity; 
a  full  council  of  general  officers  had  determined  to  hold  the 
post;  Greene,  the  commander  of  the  post, had  insisted  that  the 
evacuation  was  not  only  uncalled  for,  but  would  be  attended 
by  disastrous  consequences;  and,  under  this  advice,  Washing, 
ton  delayed  to  give  an  absolute  order  for  withdrawing  the  gar- 
rison. °        ° 

On  the  night  following  the  fourteenth,  thirtv  flat-boats  of 
the  British  passed  his  post  undiscovered  and  hid  themselves  in 
bpyt  den  Duy vel  creek.     Having  finished  batteries  on  Ford- 
ham  Heights,  Howe,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  fifteenth,  sum- 
moned  Magaw  to  surrender  Fort  Washington,  on  pain  of  the 
garrison's  being  put  to  the  sword.     The  gaUant  ofiicer,  remon- 
strating against  this  inhuman  menace,  made  answer  that  he 
should  defend  his  post  to  the  last  extremity,  and  sent  a  copy 
ot  his  reply  to  Greene,  who,  about  sunset,  forwarded  it  to 
Waslnngton,  and  himself  soon  after  repaired  to  the  island. 
Un  receiving  the  message,  Washington  rode  to  Fort  Lee,  and 
was  crossing  the  river  in  a  row-boat  late  at  night  when  he  met 
±^utnam  and  Greene,  and  spoke  with  them  in  the  stream, 
^reene,  who  was  persuaded  that  he  had  sent  over  "men 
enough  to  defend  themselves  against  the  whole  British  army," 


«  f, 

if 


'i] 


l'\ 


I     H 


78 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  oh.  t. 


reported  tliat  the  troops  were  in  high  spirits,  and  would  do 
well.  On  this  report  Washington  turned  back  with  them  to 
Fort  Lee. 

The  grounds  which  Magaw  was  charged  to  defend  reached 
from  the  hills  above  Tubby  Hook  to  a  zigzag  line  a  little 
south  of  the  present  Trinity  cemetery,  a  distance  north  and 
south  of  two  and  a  half  miles,  a  circuit  of  six  or  seven.  The 
defence  of  the  northernmost  point  of  the  heights  over  the 
Hudson  was  committed  to  Rawlings  with  the  Maryland  rifle 
regiment,  in  which  Otho  Holland  Williams  was  the  second  in 
command ;  on  the  Harlem  side,  Baxter,  ^vith  one  Pennsylvania 
regiment  from  Bucks  county,  occupied  the  redoubt  on  Laurel 
Hill ;  Magaw  retained  at  Fort  Washington  a  small  reserve ; 
the  lines  at  the  south  were  intmsted  solely  to  Colonel  Lambert 
Cadwa'iader  of  Philadelphia,  with  eight  hundi-ed  Pennsylvani- 
ans.  The  interval  of  two  miles  between  the  north  and  south 
lines  was  left  to  casual  supplies  of  troops. 

The  Americans  had  to  deal  not  only  with  immensely  su- 
perior forces,  but  with  treason.  On  the  second  of  November, 
William  Demont,  a  man  of  good  powers  of  observation  whom 
the  Philadelphia  committee  of  safety  had  appointed  Magaw's 
adjutant,  deserted  to  Lord  Percy,  taking  with  him  the  plans 
of  Fort  Washington  and  its  approaches.  By  these  Howe 
prepared  the  assault. 

A  cannonade  from  the  heights  of  Fordham  was  kept  up 
on  the  sixteenth  till  about  noon.     Of  three  separate  attacks, 
the  most  difficult  was  made  by  Knyphausen  with  nearly  four 
thousand  five  hundred  men.     The  brigade  on  the  right  near- 
est the  Hudson  was  led  by  Eall ;  another,  wdth  Knyphausen, 
marched  nearer  the  road  toward  the  gorge,  officers,  like  the 
men,  on  foot.     The  high  and  steep  and  thickly  wooded  land 
was  defended  by  felled  trees  and  three  or  four  cannon.     The 
assailants,  thinned  by  the  American  rifles,  drew  themselves  up 
over  rocks  by  grasping  at  trees  and  bushes.     Excited  by  the 
obstinacy  of  the  contest,  Eall  cried  out :  "  Forward,  my  grena- 
diers, every  man  of  you."      All  who  had  escaped   the  fire 
shouted  "IIuiTah!"  and  pushed  forward  without  f:  ring,  till 
Hessians  and  Americans  were  mixed  together.     The  other 
German  colunm  was  embarrassed  by  still  closer  thickets  and  a 


1776. 


FORT  WASHINGTON. 


79 


steeper  hillside  ;  but  Knyphaiisen,  tearing  down  fences  with 
his  own  liand,  and  exposing  himself  like  the  coimnou  soldier 
was  but  little  behind  Rail.  ' 

For  the  second  attack  a  brigade  undc  Lord  Cornwallis 
embarked  in  flat-bottomed  boats  at  King's  Bridge  on  the 
stream,  which  is  there  very  narrow ;  the  lire  of  musketry  on 
the  two  foremost  battalions  was  so  heavy  that  the  sailors  filuuk 
down  in  the  boats,  leaving  it  to  the  soldiers  to  hand:3  the  oars 
When  they  had  all  landed,  they  climbed  "the  very  steep  un- 
even »  Laurel  Hill  from  the  north,  and  stormed  the  American 
battery.     Baxter  fell  while  encouraging  his  men. 

To  the  south,  the  division  under  Perc^  moved  from  what 
is  now  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  street ;  but,  after 
gaining  the  heights,  Percy  sheltered  his  greatly  superior  force 
behmd  a  grove,  sent  word  to  Howe  that  he  had  carried  an 
advanced  work,  and  for  the  next  hour  and  a  half  remained 
idle.    Howe  ordered  three  regiments,  under  Colonel  St.^rling 
to  land  in  the  rear  of  Cadwalader's  lines ;  Cadwalader,  from  his 
very  scanty  force,  detached  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  op- 
pose  more  than  five  times  that  number.    Sterling  and  the  High- 
landers, who  led  the  way  in  boats,  were  fired  upon  while  on 
the  ^ater,  and,  after  landing  under  cover  of  a  heavy  cannon- 
ade from  Fordham  Heiglits,  they  encountered  a  gallant  resist- 
ance  as  they  struggled  up  the  steep  pass.     Gaining  the  heights 
and  followed  by  two  other  regiments,  they  began  to  press  for- 
ward across  the  island.     To  prevent  being  caught  between  two 
fires  Cadwalader  had  no  choice  but  to  retreat  by  a  road  near 
the  Hudson  to  Fort  Washington. 

While  this  was  going  on,  the  Hessians  at  the  north,  clam- 
bering over  felled  trees  and  surmounting  rocky  heights,  gained 
on  the  Americans,  who  in  number  were  but  as  one  to  four  or 
five  Rawlings  and  Otho  Williams  were  wounded ;  the  arms 
of  the  nflemen  grew  foul  from  use  ;  as  they  retired,  RaU  with 
his  brigade  pushed  upward  and  onward,  and,  when  within  a 
hundred  paces  of  the  fort,  sent  a  captain  of  grenadiers  with 
summons  to  the  garrison  to  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war,  all 
retaining  then-  baggage,  and  the  officers  their  swords.  Ma- 
gaw,  to  whom  it  was  referred,  asked  five  hours  for  consulta- 
tion, but  obtained  only  a  half -hour.    From  necessity  he  sumn- 


I 


80        AMERICA   IN   ALLIANCE   WITH   FRANCE.     ep.iv.;oh.  v. 

dered  the  place  to  Knyplianson.  The  honors  of  the  day  be- 
longed to  the  Hessians  and  tlie  Ilighhmd.rs ;  Rail  and  Sterling 
were  distinguished  in  general  orders  ;  the  fort  took  Knyphau- 
sen's  name. 

The  killed  and  wounded  of  the  German  troops  alone  were 
more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty,  with  those  of  the  British, 
more  than  five  hiaidred.  The  Americans  lost  in  the  field  not 
above  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  ;  but  they  gave  up  valuable 
artillery  and  some  of  their  host  arms,  and  the  captives  ex- 
ceeded two  thousand  six  hundred,  of  whom  one  half  were  well- 
trained  soldiers.  Greene,  to  whose  rashness  the  disaster  was 
due,  would  never  assume  his  share  of  responsibiUty  for  it.  The 
grief  of  Washington  was  sharpened  by  self-reproach  for  not 
having  instantly,  on  his  return  from  the  inspection  of  the 
Highlands,  countermanded  the  orders  of  the  general  ofiicer  of 
the  post ;  but  he  never  excused  himself  before  the  world  by 
throwing  the  blame  on  another ;  he  never  suffered  his  opinion 
of  Greene  to  be  confused ;  and  he  interpreted  liis  orders  to 
that  officer  as  having  given  the  largest  discretion  which  their 
language  could  be  strained  to  warrant. 


2776.  WASniNGTON^'S  RETIILAT  THROUGU  ^EW  JEI'SEY.     81 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WAsnmoTON's  retreat  TnRoiroii  the  jerseys. 

November  17-December  13,  1776. 

E.VRL  CoRNWALLis  took  tlie  coii  Tiand  in  New  Jersey.  His 
first  object  was  Fort  Lee,  which  laj  on  the  narrow  ridge  be- 
tween the  Hudson  and  Ilackensack  liters.  Drop  after  drop  of 
sorrow  was  fast  falling  into  the  cup  of  Washington.  On  the 
seventeenth  of  November  he  gave  oi'ders  to  Lee  with  his  divis- 
ion to  join  him,  but  the  orders  were  wilfully  slighted.  In  the 
following  woeks  they  were  repe:.led  constantly,  mixed  with 
reasoning  and  entreaty,  and  were  always  disobeyed  with  stolid 
and  impertinent  evasions.  Congress  at  last  granted  the  states 
liberty  to  enlist  men  for  the  war,  or  for  three  years ;  and,  after 
their  own  delay  had  destroyed  every  hope  of  good  results 
fi-om  the  experiment,  they  forwarded  to  Washington  blank 
commissions  which  he  might  fill  up. 

In  the  night  of  the  nineteenth  two  battalions  of  Hessian 
grenadiers,  two  companies  of  yagers,  and  the  eight  battalions 
of  the  English  reserve,  at  least  five  thousand  men,  marched  up 
the  east  side  of  the  Hudson,  and  the  next  moming,  about  day- 
break, crossed  with  their  artillery  to  Closter  landing,  five  miles 
above  Fort  Lee.  Greene  had  placed  on  the  post  neither  guard 
nor  watch,  being  certain  in  his  own  mind  that  the  British 
would  not  make  their  attack  by  that  way ;  so  that  the  nimble 
seamei.  were  unmolested  as  they  dragged  the  cannon  for  near 
half  a  mile  up  the  narrow,  steep,  rocky  road,  to  the  top  of  the 
palisades.  Receiving  a  report  of  the  near  approach  of  the 
enemy,  Greene  sent  an  express  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and, 
having  ordered  his  troops  under  arms,  took  to  flight  with 


!,{ 


1 


II 

ill 


82       AMERICA  IN"  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    bp.  iv.  ;  on.  vi. 

more  than  two  thousand  men,  leaving  blankets  and  baggage, 
except  what  his  few  wagons  could  bear  away,  a  large  amount 
of  provisions,  camp-kettles  on  the  fire,  above  four  hundred 
tents  standing,  and  all  his  cannon  except  two  twelve-pounders 
but  no  military  stores.*     With  his  utmost  speed  he  barely 
escaped  being  cut  oil ;  but  Wasliington,  first  ordering  Grayson, 
his  aide-de-camp,  to  renew  the  summons  for  Lee  to  cross  the 
river,  gained  the   bridge  over  the  Hackensack  by  a   rapid 
march,  and  covered  the  retreat  of  the  garrison,  so  that  less 
than  ninety  stragglers  were  taken  prisoners.     The  main  body 
of  those  who  escaped  were  witliout  tents,  or  blankets,  or  camp 
utensils,  bat  such  as  they  could  pick  up  as  they  went  along. 

To  prevent  being  hemmed  in  on  the  narrow  peninsula  be- 
tween the  ITackensack  and  Passaic  rivers,  which  meet  in  New- 
ark bay,  <  'ders  were  given  on  the  twenty-first  for  moving 
beyond  the  Passaic.  The  governor  of  New  Jei-sey  was  remind- 
ed that  the  enlistment  of  the  flying  camp  belonging  to  that 
state,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland  was  near  exjnring,  so  that 
the  enemy  could  be  stopped  only  by  the  immediate  uprising 
of  the  mihtia.  At  Newark,  where  Washington  arrived  on 
the  night  of  the  twenty-second,  he  maintained  himself  for 
five  days,  devising  means  to  cover  the  country,  and  await- 
ing the  continental  force  under  Lee  and  volunteers  of  New 
Jersey. 

On  the  twenty-third  he  sent  Heed,  M'ho  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  to  the  legislature  of  that  state  t  en  at  Burlington, 
and  Miftiin  to  congress.  Eeed,  who  had  been  charged  to  con- 
vey to  the  New  Jersey  government  "a  perfect  idea  of  the 
critical  situation  of  affairs,  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and 
the;  absolute  necessity  of  further  and  immediate  exertions," 
shrinking  from  further  duty,  returned  his  commission  to  the 
president  of  congress;  but  a  cold  rebuke  from  Washington 
drove  him,  at  the  end  of  four  days,  to  retract  his  resignation, 
though  he  could  not  overcome  his  reluctance  at  "following 
the  ^\Tetched  remains  of  a  brr  ken  army."f 

Congress  called  on  the  associators  in  Philadelphia  and  tlie 
nearest  four  counties  to  join  the  army,  if  but  for  six  months,- 

*  Greene  to  Governor  Cooke,  21  December  1776,  iu  Force,  iii.,  1212,  1343. 
f  A  Reply  to  Oeueral  J.  Reed'a  Remarks,  10,  18,  21, 


'.  <    I 


1776.  WASHINGTON'S  RETREAT  TUROUGH  NEW  JERSEY.     83 

begged  blankets  and  woollen  stockings  for  the  soldiers ;  and 
wrote  :N'ortli  and  South  for  troops  and  stores.     The  state  of 
Pennsylvania  was  paralyzed  by  disputes  about  its  new  consti- 
tution ;  but  Mifflin  successfully  addressed  the  old  conimittro  of 
safety  and  the  new  assembly;  he  reviewed  and  encouraged  the 
city  militia;  with  Rittcnhouse  in  the  chair,  and  the  general 
assembly  and  council  of  safety  in  attendance,  he  spoke  to  the 
people  of  Philadelphia  in  town-meeting  with  fervor,  and  was 
answered  by  acclamations.     AU  this  while  the  British  officers 
were  writing  home  from  New  York:  "Lord  Cornwallis  is 
carrying  all  before  him  in  the  Jerseys;  peace  must  soon  be 
the  consequence  of  our  success."     On  the  twenty-eighth  the 
advanced  guard  of  Cornwallis  reached  Newark,  just  as  it  was 
left  l)y  the  rear  of  the  Americans. 

At  Branswick,  where  the  American  army  arrived  on  the 
evening  of  the  twenty-eighth,  it  found  short  repose.     Lee 
though  importuned  daily,  and  sometimes  twiee  a  day,  Hngered 
on  the  east  of  the  Hudson;  Pennsylvania  had  no  government; 
the  efforts  of  congress  were  ineffective ;  and  the  appeal  of  the 
governor  of  New  Jersey  to  its  several  colonels  of  miHtia  could 
not  bring  into  the  field  one  full  company.    All  this  while  Wash- 
mgton  was  forced  to  hide  his  weakness  and  bear  loads  of  cen- 
sure from  false  estimates  of  his  strength.     To  expressions  of 
sympathy  from  William  Livingston  he  answered ;  "  I  will  not 
despair."    As  he  wrote  these  words,  on  the  last  day  of  Novem- 
ber he  was  parting  with  the  New  Jersey  and  Maryland  bri- 
gades, which  formed  nearly  half  his  force  and  claimed  their 
discharge  now  that  their  engagement  expired  ;  wliilo  the  broth- 
ers, Lord  and  Sir  William  Howe,  were  pu])lishing  a  new  proc- 
lamation of  pardon  and  amnesty  to  all  who  within  sixty  days 
would  promise  not  to  take  up  arms  against  tiie  king     The 
legislature  of  New  Jersey  did  all  it  could;  but  the  second 
oflicer  of  the  Monmouth  battalion  refused  "taking  the  oaths 
to  the  state;"  Charles  Read,  its  colonel,  "submitted  to  \he 
enemy ;  ^  the  chief  justice  wavered  ;  and  Samuel  Tucker,  presi- 
dent of  Its  constituent  convention,  chairman  of  its  committee 
ot  safety,  treasurer,  and  judge  of  its  supreme  court,  signed 
the  pkdge  of  fidelity  to  the  British.     From  PhilndelLhia!  Jo- 
seph Cxalloway  went  over  to  Howe ;  so  did  Andrew  AUen,  who 


I  til 


I'M  !l 


i     i 


84        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  on.  vr. 

had  been  a  member  of  the  continental  congress,  and  two  of 
Jiis  brotliers— all  confident  of  being  soon  restored  to  their  for- 
mer fortunes  and  political  importance.  Even  John  Dickinson 
for  two  or  three  months  longer  refused  to  accept  *  from  Dela- 
ware an  appointment  to  the  congress  of  the  United  States 
The  convention  of  Maryland  on  the  tenth  of  November  f  au- 
thorized its  delegates  to  concur  in  the  decisions  of  the  maior- 
ity  of  congress. 

On  the  other  hand,  Sclmyler  detached  from  the  northern 
army  to  Washington's  aid  seven  continental  regiments  of 
New  England,  who  owed  service  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
Wayne,  the  commander  at  Ticonderoga,  burned  to  go  "to  the 
assistance  of  poor  Wadiington."  TrurabuU  of  Connecticut 
said  for  Its  people  and  for  hmiself :  "We  are  determined  to 
maintain  our  cause  to  the  last  extremity." 

The  fate  of  America  was  trembling  m  the  scale,  when  the 
Howes  rashly  divided  their  forces.  Two  English  and  two 
Hessian  brigades,  under  the  command  of  CHnton,  assi  ted  by 
Earl  Percy  and  Prescott,  passed  through  the  sound  in  seventy 
transports,  and,  on  the  seventh  of  December,  were  convoyed 
mto  the  harbor  of  Newport  by  eleven  ships-of-war.  The  island 
of  Rhode  Island  could  offer  no  resistance;  and  for  its  useless 
occupation  a  large  number  of  troops  were  kept  unemployed  all 
the  next  three  years. 

•■  On  the  first  of  December,  just  as  Washington  was  leaving 
Bninswick,  he  renewed  his  u^-gency  with  Lee :  "  The  enem" 
mean  to  push  for  Philadelphia.  I  must  entreat  you  to  hasten 
your  march,  or  your  arrival  may  be  too  late."  On  the  evening 
of  that  day  Cornwallis  entered  Brunswick.  Washington,  as 
he  retreated,  broke  down  a  part  of  the  bridge  over  the  Rari- 
tan,  and  a  sharp  cannonade  took  place  across  the  river,  in 
which  it  is  remembered  that  an  American  battery  was  com- 
manded by  Alexander  Hamilton.  With  but  three  thousand 
men,  he  marched  by  night  to  Princeton.  Leaving  Stirling  and 
twelve  hundred  men  at  that  place  to  watch  the  motions  of  the 
enemy,  he  went  with  the  rest  to  Trenton,  where  he  found  time 

__  *  CfTsar  Rodney  to  Thomas  Rodney,  23  December  1776.  Force,  Fifth  Series, 
HI.,  1370.  John  Dickinson  to  George  Read,  20  and  22  January  1777.  Robert 
Morn.s  to  John  Jay,  12  January  1777.     MSS.  f  Force,  Fifth  Scries,  iii.,  179. 


i   ! 


1776.  WASHINGTON'S  RETREAT  THROUGH  NEW  JERSEY.     85 

to  counsel  congress  how  to  provide  resources  for  the  campaign 
of  the  next  year.  Having  transferred  his  baggage  and  stores 
beyond  the  Uelaware,  he  faced  about  with  such  troops  as  were 
fit  for  serince.  Eut,  on  the  sixth,  Comwallis  was  joined  by 
Howe  and  nearly  a  full  brigade  of  fresh  troops.  Washington, 
on  his  way  to  Princeton,  met  the  detachment  of  Stirling  re- 
Treating  before  a  vastly  superior  force;  he  therefore  returned 
with  his  anny  to  Trenton,  and  crossed  the  Delaware.     Who 

-  shall  say  what  might  have  happened  if  Howe  had  pushed  for- 
ward four  thousand  men  in  pursuit?  But,  resting  seventeen 
hours  at  Princeton,  and,  on  the  eighth,  taking  seven  hom-s 
to  march  twelve  miles,  he  arrived  at  Trenton  just  in  time  to 
see  the  last  of  the  patriots  safely  pass  the  river.  His  army 
could  not  follow,  for  Washington  had  destroyed  or  secured 
eyery  boat  on  the  Delaware  and  its  tributaries  for  seventy 

Smiles.  -^ 

Philadelphia  was  in  danger.  Congress  published  an  appeal 
to  the  people,  especially  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  adjacent 
states,  giving  assurance  of  aid  from  foreign  powers.  Wash- 
ington^ mth  all  his  general  officers  entreated  Lee  to  march 
and  join  him  Math  all  possible  expedition,  adding :  «  Do  come 
on ;  your  arrival  without  delay  may  be  the  means  of  preserv- 
uig  a  city."    Late  at  night  arrived  an  evasive  answer. 

Lee  was  impatient  to  gain  the  chief  command.  From  the 
east  side  of  the  Hudson  he  wrote  to  Rush :  "Let  me  talk  vain- 
ly;  I  could  do  you  much  good,  might  I  but  dictate  one  week. 
Did  none  of  the  congress  ever  read  the  Roman  history  2 "  The 
day  after  the  loss  of  Fort  Lee  he  received  one  explicit  order, 
and  another  peremptory  one,  to  pass  into  New  Jersey.  To 
Bowdoin,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  government  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, he  described  these  orders  as  "absolute  insanity." 

Of  other  more  elaborate  instructions  lie  sent  garbled  ex- 
tracts to  Bowdoin  with  the  message:  "In  so  important  a  crisis, 
even  the  resolves  of  the  congress  must  no  longer  nicely  weigh 
with  us.  We  must  save  the  community,  in  spite  of  the  legis 
lature.  There  are  times  when  we  must  commit  treason  against 
the  laws  of  the  state  for  tlie  salvation  of  the  state.  The  pros- 
ent  crisis  demands  tliis  brave,  virtuous  kind  of  treason."  A 
letter  to  Lee  from  Reed,  who  was  himself  irresolute  and  de- 


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86       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV.  ;  CH.  VI. 


1?' 


eponding,  ran  thus:  "You  Iiave  decision,  a  quality  often  want- 
ed in  minds  otherwise  valuable.  Oh,  General,  an  indecisive 
mind  is  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  that  can  befall  an 
army;  how  often  have  I  lamented  it  this  campaign!"  Lee 
greedily  inhaled  the  flattery  of  the  man  who  professed  to  be 
the  friend  of  Washington,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  wrote 
back:  "My  dear  Keed,  I  lament  with  you  that  fatal  indecision 
of  mind  which  in  war  is  a  much  greater  disquahiication  than 
stupidity,  or  even  want  of  personal  courage."  Before  the  end 
of  the  month  this  answer,  having  outwardly  the  form  of  an 
oflicial  despatch,  fell  under  the  eye  of  Washington. 

On  the  second  and  third  of  December  the  division  of  Lee 
passed  over  the  Hudson;  but  not  to  join  Washhigton:  he 
claimed  to  be  "a  general  detached  to  make  an  important  diver- 
sion," and  he  was  bent  on  making  his  detachment  larger  than 
that  of  the  commander-in-chief.     He  demanded  of  Heath  in 
the  Higlilands  the  transfer  of  his  best  regiments,  having  first 
said  to  him :  "  I  will  and  must  be  obeyed ; "  but  the  honest 
officer  refused,  producing  his  instructions.    At  Haverstraw,  on 
the  fourth  of  December,  he  intercepted  and  incorporated  into 
Iiis  own  division  the  three  thousand  men  whom  Schuyler  had 
sent  from  the  northern  army  to  the  relief  of  Washington. 
From  Pompton,  on  the  seventh,  he  despatched  a  French  officer 
of  no  merit  and  ignorant  of  English  to  command  the  troops 
collected  for  the  defence  of  Rhode  Island ;  and  in  a  letter  to  the 
governor  of  that  state  he  sneered  at  "Washington  as  destitute  of 
the  qualities  which  "  alone  constitute  a  general."     From  Mor- 
ristowi;  '     announced  to  Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Rush,  the 
committee  of  congress,  that  it  was  not  his  intention  "  to  join 
the  anny  with  Washington."     From  Chatham  he  hurried  off 
orders  to  Heath  to  send  him  three  regiments  just  amved  from 
Ticonderoga,  without  loss  of  time,  saying:  "I  am  in  hopes 
,  here  to  reconcpxer  the  Jerseys." 

^  On  the  twelfth  his  division  marched  with  Sullivan  eight 
miles  only  to  Yealtown  ;  but  Lee,  with  a  small  guard,  proceeded 
three  or  four  miles  nearer  the  enemy,  who  were  but  eighteen 
miles  0%  and  passed  the  night  at  White's  tavern  at  Basking- 
ridge.  The  next  morning  he  lay  in  bed  till  eight  o'clock. 
On  rising,  he  wasted  t^vo  hours  with  Wilkinson,  a  messenger 


1770.   WASHINGTON'S  KETREAT  THROUGH  NEW  JERSEY.     87 


from  Gates,  in  boasting  of  his  own  prowess,  and  eavillino-  at 
everything  done  by  others.  It  was  ten  o'clock  before  he^sat 
down  to  breakfast,  after  which  he  took  time,  in  a  letter  to 
Gates  to  indulge  his  spleen  toward  "Washington,  beginning  in 
this  wise :  "  My  dear  Gutes—Fntre  nous,  a  certain  great  man 
is  most  damnably  deficient."  The  paper,  which  he  signed,  was 
not  yet  folded,  when  Wilkinson,  at  the  window,  cried  out: 
"  Here  are  the  British  cavalry ! " 

The  young  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ilarcourt,  the  commander 
of  a  scouting  party  of  thirty  dragoons,  learning  Lee's  foolhardy 
choice  of  lodgings,  surrounded  the  house  by  a  sudden  charge, 
and  called  out  to  him  to  come  forth  immediately,  or  the  house 
would  be  set  on  fire.     Within  two  minutes,  he  came  out,  pale 
from  fear,  unarmed,  bare-headed,  without  cloak,  in  slippers 
and  blanket-coat,  his  collar  open,  his  shirt  much  soiled,  and 
entreated  the  dragoons  to  spare  his  life.     They  seized  him 
just  as  he  was,  and  set  him  on  Wilkinson's  horse  which  stood 
saddled  at  the  door.     One  of  his  aids,  who  came  out  with  him, 
was  mounted  behind  Harcourt's  servant ;  and,  just  four  min- 
utes from  the  time  of  surrounding  the  house,  they  began  their 
return.     On  the  way  Lee  recovered  from  his  panic,  and  ranted 
violently  about  his  having  for  a  moment  obtained  the  supreme 
command,  giving  many  signs  of  a  mind  not  perfectly  right. 
At  Princeton,  he  demanded  to  be  received  under  the  Novem- 
ber proclamation  of  the  Howes ;  and,  on  being  reminded  that 
he  might  be  tried  as  a  deserter,  he  flew  into  an  extravagant 
rage,  and  railed  at  the  faithlessness  of  the  Americans  as  the 
cause  of  his  mishap.     Yet  they  retained  trust  in  him;  and 
even  Greene  still  thought  him  "  a  most  consummate  general." 
No  hope  remained  to  the  United  States  but  in  Washing- 
ton.    His  retreat  of  ninety  miles  through  the  Jerseys,  pro- 
tracted for  eighteen  or  nineteen  days,  in  winter,  often  in  sight 
and  within  cannon-shot  of  his  enemies,  his  rear  pulling  down 
bridges  and  their  van  building  them  up,  had  for  its  purpose  to 
effect  delay  till  midwinter  and  impassable  roads  should  offer 
tlieir  protection.     The  actors,  looking  back  upon  the  crowded 
disasters  which  fell  on  them,  hardly  knew  by  what  springs  of 
anunation  they  had  been  sustained. 


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88      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  en.  yu. 


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'  !     I 


CHAPTER  YH. 

TRENTON. 

DECEivmEE  11-26,  1776. 

The  Britisli  posts  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Delaware  drew 
near  to  Philadelphia  ;  rumor  reported  ships-of-war  in  the  bay ; 
the  wives  and  children  of  the  inhabitants  were  escaping  with 
their  papers  and  proj^erty ;  and  the  contagion  of  panic  broke 
out  in  congress.     On  the  eleventh  of  December  they  called  on 
the  states  to  appoint,  each  for  itself,  a  day  of  fasting  and  hu- 
miliation ;  on  the  twelfth,  after  advice  from  Putnam  and  Mif- 
flin,  they  voted  to  adjourn  to  Baltimore.     It  is  on  record  that 
Samuel  Adams,  whom  Jefferson  has  described  as  "  exceeded  by 
no  man  in  congress  for  de]3th  of  purpose,  zeal,  and  sagacity," 
mastered  by  enthusiasm  and  excitement  which  grew  with  ad- 
versity, vehemently  opposed  a  removal.     His  speech  has  not 
been  preserved,  but  its  purport  may  be  read  in  his  letters  of 
the  time:  "A  cause  so  just  and  interesting  to  mankind,  I 
trust  that  my  dear  New  England  will  maintain  at  tho  expense 
of  everything  dear  to  them  in  life.     If  this  city  should  be  sur- 
rendered, I  should  by  no  means  despair.     Britain  will  strain 
every  nerve  to  subjugate  America  next  year.     Our  affairs 
abroad  weai'  a  promising  aspect,  but  I  conjure  you  not  to  de 
fpend  too  nnich  upon  foreign  aid.     Let  America  exert  her  o^^^l 
V  strength,  and  He  who  cannot  be  indifferent  to  her  righteous 
/  cause  will  even  work  miracles,  if  necessary,  to  establish  her  feet 
upon  a  rock." 

Putnam  promised  in  no  event  to  burn  the  city  which  he 
was  charged  to  defend  to  the  last  extremity,  and  would  not 
allovv  any  one  to  remain  an  idle  spectator  of  the  contest,  "  per- 


(  I 


1 


1776. 


TEENTON. 


89 


sons  under  conscientious  scruples  alone  excepted."  But  the 
Quakers,  abhorrhig  the  new  form  of  government,  at  their  meet- 
ing held  at  Philadelphia  for  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey, 
refused  "in  person  or  by  other  assistance  to  join  in  cai-rying 
on  the  war;"  and  with  fond  regret  they  recalled  to  mind 
"the  happy  constitution"  under  which  "they  and  others  had 
long  enjoyed  peace."  The  flight  of  congress,  which  took 
place  amid  the  jeers  of  tories  and  tlie  maledictions  of  patriots 
gave  a  stab  to  public  credit,  and  fostered  a  general  disposition 
to  refuse  continental  money.  At  his  home  near  the  sea,  John 
Adams  was  as  stout  of  heart  as  ever.  Though  France  should 
hold  back,  thougli  Philadelphia  should  faU,  "I,"  said  he  "do 
not  doubt  of  ultimate  success."  ' 

Confident  that  the  American  troops  would  melt  away  at 
the  approaching  expiration  of  their  engagements,  Howe  on 
the  thirteenth,  prepared  to  return  to  his  winter  quarters  in 
Now  York,  leaving  Donop  as  acting  brigadier,  with  two  Hes- 
sian brigades,  the  yagers,  and  the  forty-second  Highlanders,  to 
hold  the  line  from  Trenton  to  BurHngton.    At  Princeton  he 
refused  to  see  Lee,  who  was  held  as  a  deserter  from  the  British 
army,  and  was  taken  under  a  .    ;se  guard  to  Brunswick  and 
afterward  to  New  York.    Comwallis  left  Grant  in  command 
m  New  Jersey,  and  was  hastening  to  embark  for  England 
By  orders  committed  to  Donop,  the  inliabitants  who  in  bands 
or  separately  should  fire  upon  any  of  the  army  were  to  be 
hanged  upon  the  nearest  tree  witliout  further  process      AU 
provisions  which  exceeded  the  wants  of  an  ordinary  family 
were  to  be  seized  alike  from  whig  or  tovy.    Life  and  property 
were  at  the  mercy  of  foreign  hirelings.     The  attempts  to  re- 
strain  the  Hessians  were  given  up,  under  the  apology  that  tlie 
habit  of  plunder  prevented  desertions.     A  British  ofiicor  re- 
ports officially :  "  They  were  led  to  believe,  before  they  left 
Hesse-Cassel,  that  they  were  to  come  to  America  to  establish 
their  private  fortunes,  and  they  have  acted  with  that  principle  " 
It  was  the  opinion  of  Donop  that  Trenton  should  be  pro- 
tected on  the  flanks  by  garrisoned  redoubts ;  but  Rail,  who  as 
a  reward  for  his  brilliant  services,  through  the  interposition  of 
trrant  obtained  the  separate  command  of  that  post,  with  fifty 
yagers,  twenty  dragoons,  and  the  whole  of  his  ohti  brigade 


■11 


i«yi 


lii 


90       AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Ep.  IV. ;  cii.  vn. 


would  not  heed  the  suggestion.    Eenewing  his  advice  at  part- 
ing, on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  Donop  mn^ched  out 
with  liis  brigade  to  find  quarters  chiefly  at  Burdentown  and 
Blackhorse,  till  Burlington,  which  lies  low,  should  be  protected 
from  the  American  row-galleys  by  heavy  cannon.      On  the 
sixteenth  it  was  rumored  that  Washington  with  a  large  force 
hovered  on  the  right  flank  of  Eall;  but,  in  answer  to  Donop's 
reports  of  that  day  and  the  next,  Grant  wrote  :  "  I  am  certain 
the  rebels  no  longer  have  any  strong  cori)8  on  this  side  of  the 
river ;  the  story  of  Washington's  crossing  the  Delaware  at  this 
season  of  the  year  is  not  to  be  believed."     "  Let  them  come," 
said  Rail ;  "  what  need  of  intrenchments  ?     We  will  at  them 
with  the  bayonet."     At  all  alarms  he  set  troops  in  motion,  but 
not  from  apprehension  of  the  mouldering  army  of  the  rebels. 
His  delight  was  in  martial  music  ;  and  for  him  the  hautboys 
at  the  main  guard  could  never  play  too  long.    He  was  constant 
at  parade ;  and,  to  give  the  aspect  of  great  importance  to  his 
command,  all  ofiicers  and  midor-oflicers  were  obliged  to  appear 
at  his  quarters  on  the  relief  of  the  sentries  and  of  the  pickets. 
Cannon,  ^vliich  should  have  been  in  position  for  defence,  stood 
in  front  of  his  door,  and  every  day  were  escorted  through  the 
town.     He  was  not  seen  in  the  morning  until  nine,  or  even  ten 
or  eleven ;  for  every  night  he  indulged  in  late  carousals.     So 
passed  his  twelve  days  of  command  at  Trenton ;  and  they  were 
the  proudest  and  happiest  of  his  life. 
r      "  No  man  was  ever  overwhelmed  by  greater  difficulties,  or 
had  less  means  to  extricate  himself  from  them,"  than  Wash- 
J  ington ;  but  the  afflictions  which  tried  his  fortitude  can-ied 
]  with  them  an  inspiring  \-irtue.     We  have  his  o^^^l  assurance 
J  that  in  all  this  period  of  deepest  gloom  his  hope  and  confidence 
\  never  faltered. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  December,  believing  that  Howe  was 
on  his  way  to  Kew  York,  he  resolved,  as  soon  as  he  could  be 
joined  by  the  troops  under  Lee,*  "  to  attempt  a  stroke  upon  the 
forces  of  the  enemy,  which  lay  a  good  deal  scattered,  and  to  all 
appearance  in  a  state  of  security."  Meantime,  he  obtained  ex- 
act accounts  of  New  Jersey  and  its  best  military  positions,  from 

»  Washington  to  Trumbull,  etc.,  12  and  14  December  1776,  in  i-'orce,  Hi.,  1186 
ajid  1215,  iind  Wasliiugton  to  Gates,  Force,  iii„  1216. 


177G. 


TKEXTOX. 


91 


opposite  Philadelphia  to  i.  >  hills  at  Morristown.  Every  boat 
was  ccured  far  up  the  little  streams  that  How  to  the  Delaware ; 
and  his  forces,  increafied  by  fifteen  hundred  volunteers  from 
Philadelphia,  guarded  the  crossing-places  from  the  falls  at 
Trenton  to  below  Bristol.  He  made  every  exertion  to  threaten 
the  Hessians  on  both  flanks  by  miUtia  at  Moj-ristown  on  the 
north,  and  on  the  south  at  Mount  Holly. 

The  days  of  waiting  he  employed  in  presenting  congress 
with  a  plan  for  an  additional  number  of  battalions,  to  be  raised 
and  officered  directly  by  the  Uni:ed  States  without  the  inter- 
vention of  the  several  states,  thus  taking  the  first  great  step 
toward  a  real  unity  of  government.     Congress,  on  adjourn- 
ing to  Baltimore,  resolved  "  that  General  Washington  be  pos- 
sessed of  fuU  power  to  order  and  direct  all  things  relative 
to  the  department  and  to  the  operations  of  the  war."    Wash- 
ington took  them  at  their  word,  and,  by  th(!  pressing  advice 
of  the  general  officers,  ordered  three  battalions  of  artillery  to 
be  immediately  recruited.     "  The  present  exigency  of  our  af- 
fairs," he  pleaded  in  excuse,  «  will  not  admit  of  delay,  either 
m  the  council  or  the  held.     Ten  days  more  will  put  an  end 
to  the  existence  of  this  army.     If,  therefore,  every  matter 
that  m  its  nature  is  self-evident  is  to  be  referred  to  congress, 
at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty  miles,  so 
much  time  umst  elapse  as  to  defeat  the  end  in  view. 

Short  enlistments  and  a  mistaken  dependence  upon  mi- 
litia have  been  the  origin  of  all  our  misfortunes  and  of  the 
great  accumulation  of  om-  debt.  Militia  may  possibly  check  the 
progress  of  the  enemy  for  a  little  while,  but  in  a  little  wliile  the 
militia  of  those  states  which  liave  been  frequently  called  upon 
will  not  turn  out  at  all,  or  do  it  with  so  nmeh  reluctance  and 
sloth  as  to  amount  to  the  sanie  thing. 

These  are  the  men  I  am  to  depend  upon  ten  days  hence ; 
this  is  the  basis  on  which  your  cause  must  forever  depend  till 
you  get  a  standing  army  sufficient  of  itself  to  oppose  the  ene- 
my. If  any  good  officers  will  oiler  to  raise  men  upon  conti- 
nental pay  and  establishment  in  this  quarter,  I  shall  encourage 
them  to  do  so,  and  regiment  them  when  they  have  done  it. 
If  congress  disapprove  of  this  proceeding,  they  will  please  to 
signify  it,  as  I  mean  it  for  tlie  best.     A  character  to  lose,  an 

VOL,   V. — 8  ' 


m 


ir  '■ 


92      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV.;  on.  vii. 


?   i 


; 


,r ! 


estate  to  forfeit,  tlie  inestimable  blessings  of  liberty  at  stake 
and  a  life  (levoted,  must  be  my  exense." 

On  the  twenty-fourtli  he  resumed  his  warnings  :  "  The  ob- 
stacles which  have  ai-isen  to  the  raising  of  the  new  army  from 
the  mode  of  appointing  officers  induce  me  to  hope  that,  if  con- 
gress resolve  on  an  additional  number  of  battalions,  they  will 
devise  some  other  rule  by  which  the  officers,  especially  the 
tield-officers,  should  be  appointed.  Many  of  the  best  have 
been  neglected,  and  those  of  little  worth  and  less  experience 
put  in  their  places  or  promoted  over  their  heads." 

On  the  same  day  Greene  wrote,  in  support  of  the  new  poli- 
cy :  "I  am  far  from  thinking  the  American  cause  desperate, 
yet  I  conceive  it  to  be  in  a  critical  situation.  To  remedy  evils, 
the  general  should  have  power  to  appoint  officers  to  enlist  at 
large.  There  never  was  a  man  that  might  be  more  safely 
trusted,  nor  a  time  when  there  was  a  louder  call."  Congress 
had  failed  to  raise  troops  by  j-equisitions  on  the  states ;  leave 
was  now  asked  to  recruit  and  organize  two-and-twenty  battal- 
ions for  the  general  seiwice  under  the  direct  authority  of  the 
union. 

On  the  twentieth,  Gates  and  Sullivan  an-ived  at  headquar- 
ters. Gates  was  followed  by  five  hundred  effective  men,  who 
were  all  that  remained  of  four  New  England  regiments ;  but 
these  few  were  sure  to  be  well  led,  for  Stark  of  New  Hamp- 
shire was  their  oldest  officer.  Sullivan  brought  Lee's  division, 
with  which  he  had  crossed  the  Delaware  at  Easton. 

No  time  was  lost  in  preparing  for  the  surprise  of  Trenton. 
Counting  all  the  troops  from  headquarters  to  Bristol,  includ- 
ing the  detachments  which  came  with  Gates  and  Sullivan  and 
.  the  militia  of  Pennsylvania,  the  army  was  reported  at  no  more 
than  six  thousand  two  hundred  men,  and  there  were  in  fact 
not  so  many  by  twelve  or  fourteen  hundred.  "  Our  numbers," 
said  Washington,  «  are  less  than  I  had  any  conception  of ;  but 
necessity,  dii-e  necessity,  will,  nay  must,  justify  an  attack." 
On  the  twenty-third  he  wrote  for  the  watchword :  "  Yictoey  or 
DEATH."  But  the  men  who  had  been  with  Lee  were  so  cast 
down  and  in  want  of  everything  that  the  plan  could  not  be 
ripened  before  Christmas  night. 

Washington  approved  the  detention  at  Morristown  of  sis 


1776. 


TRENTON. 


98 


hundred  Lew  England  men  from  the  nortlicrn  army;  and 
sent  IVfaxwell,  of  New  Jersey,  to  take  command  of  them  and 
the  militia  collected  at  the  same  place,  with  orders  to  distress 
the  enemy,  to  harass  them  in  their  quarters,  to  cut  off  their 
convoys,  and,  if  a  detachment  should  move  toward  Trenton  or 
the  Delaware,  to  fall  upon  their  rear  and  annoy  them  on  their 
march.     Griffin,  with  all  the  force  he  could  collect  at  Mount 
Holly,  was  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  Hessians  under  Do- 
nop.     Ewing,  who  lay  opposite  Trenton  with  more  than  live 
hundred  men,  was  to  cross  near  the  town.     Putnam,  to  whom 
Washmgton  took  care  to  send  orders,  was  to  lead  over  a  force 
from  Philadelphia.     The  most  imjiortant  subsidiary  movement 
was  to  1)6  made  with  about  two  thousand  troops  from  Bristol, 
and  of  this  party  Gates  was  recpiested  to  take  the  lead.     "  If 
you  could  only  stay  there  two  or  tlu-ee  days,  I  should  be  glad  " 
said  Washington.  ' 

The  country  people  wore  sui)ine  or  hostile ;  spies  surrounded 
the  camp.  But  Grant,  the  British  commander  in  Xew  Jersey 
though  informed  of  the  proposed  attack  on  Trenton,  and 
though  the  negroes  in  the  town  used  to  jeer  at  the  Hessians 
that  Waslungton  was  coming,  persuaded  himself  there  would 
be  no  crossing  of  the  river  with  a  large  force,  "because  the 
runnmg  ice  would  make  the  return  desperate  or  in.practica- 
ble.  "Besides,"  he  wrote  on  the  twenty-first,  "  Wasliington's 
men  have  neither  shoes  nor  stockings  nor  blankets,  are  ahnost 
naked,  and  dyiug  of  cold  and  want  of  food.  On  the  Trenton 
Bide  of  the  Delaware  they  have  not  altogether  three  hundred 
men  ;  and  these  stroll  in  small  parties  under  a  subaltern,  or  at 
most  a  captain,  to  lie  in  wait  for  dragoons." 

Just  before  midnight  on  Christmas  eve.  Grant  again  sent 
word  to  Donop:  "Washington  has  been  informed  that  our 
rroops  have  marched  into  winter  quarters,  and  that  we  are 
weak  at  Trenton  and  Princeton.  I  don't  believe  he  will  at- 
tempt to  make  an  attack  upon  those  two  places ;  but,  be 
assured,  my  information  is  undoubtedly  true,  so  that  I  need 
not  advise  you  to  be  upon  your  guard  against  an  unexpected 
attack  at  Trenton."  *  Eall  scoffed  at  the  idea  that  Americans 
should  dare  to  come  against  him ;  and  Donop  was  so  unsus^ 
*  I  found  at  Casscl  the  origiual  letter  of  Grant,  written  in  English. 


h\  I 


m. 


' 


II  '•!■' 


-;! 


h! 


U 


I      n 


<* 


94       AMKKICA   IN    ALLIANCE   WITH   FRANCE,     ep.  iv. ;  on.  vn. 

pecting  that,  after  driving  awiiy  the  small  American  forco 
from  Mount  Holly,  where  lie  received  a  wound  in  th.e  head, 
ho  remained  at  that  post  to  administer  tlie  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  d.'jected  hihahitants,  atul  to  send  forward  a  paily  to 
Cooper's  creek,  ojjposito  Tiiiladelphia. 

European  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  Bi-itish  waa  at 
its  height.  "  Franklin's  troops  have  been  beaten  by  those  of 
the  king  of  England,"  wrote  Voltaire;  "alaa!  reason  and  m> 
erty  are  ill  received  in  this  world."  Vergennes,  indeed,  saw 
the  small  results  of  the  cami)a!gn  ;  and,  in  reply  to  rumors  favor- 
able to  the  rebels,  Stormont  would  s;iy  that  he  left  their  refu- 
tation to  General  Howe,  whose  answer  would  be  as  complete  a 
one  as  ever  Avas  given.  At  Cassel,  IIowc  was  called  another 
Cii>sar,  who  came  and  saw  and  con(piered.  In  England,  some 
l>elieved  Franklin  liad  tied  to  France  as  a  runaway  for  safety, 
others  to  otfer  terms.  The  repeated  .successes  had  fixed  or  con- 
verted "  ninety-nine  in  one  hundred."  Burke  never  expected 
serious  resistance  from  tlie  colonies.  "  It  is  the  time,"  said 
Ilockingham,  "to  attempt  in  earnest  a  reconciliation  with 
America."  Lord  North  thought  that  Cornwallis  would  sweep 
the  American  army  before  him,  and  that  the  first  operations 
of  the  coming  spring  would  end  the  (p.uirrel. 

At  New  York,  where  all  was  mirth  and  jollity,  Howe  met 
the  messenger  Avho,  in  return  for  the  victory  ou  Long  Island, 
brought  him  encomiums  from  the  minister  and  honors  from  the 
king.  The  young  English  ofl^icers  were  preparing  to  amuse 
themselves  by  the  performance  of  plays  at  the  theatre  for  the 
benefit  of  the  widows  and  children  of  sufferers  by  the  war. 
The  markets  were  well  supplied,  balls  were  given  to  satiety, 
and  the  dulness  of  evening  parties  was  dispelled  by  the  faro- 
table,  where  sul)altenis  competed  with  their  snpcrioi-s  and 
ruined  themselves  by  play.  Howe  fired  his  sluggi.jh  nature 
by  wine  and  good  cheer ;  his  mistress  spent  his  money  prodi- 
gally, but  the  continuance  of  the  war  promised  him  a  great 
fortune.  The  refugees  grumbli'd  because  Lord  Howe  would 
not  break  the  law  by  suffering  them  to  fit  out  privateers ;  and 
they  envied  the  floods  of  wealth  which  poured  in  upon  him 
from  h'o  .  ighth  part  of  prize-money  on  captures  made  by  his 
squadn  n,     As  the  fighting  was  over,  Cornwallis  sent  his  bag- 


1776. 


TRENTON. 


05 


gage  on  l>oard  the  packet  for  Fiigluiid.  Tlie  hrothcrs  gave  the 
secretary  of  state  under  their  joint  hands  an  assurance  of  the 
conqnesl  of  all  New  Jersey ;  and  every  one  in  New  i'ork  was 
looking  out  for  festivals  on  the  investiture  of  Sir  William 
Howe  as  knight  of  the  Bath.  His  Hattcrere  wrote  home  that, 
unless  there  should  be  more  tardiness  in  noticing  his  merit,  the 
king  would  very  soon  use  up  all  the  honors  of  the  peerage  in 
rewarding  his  victories. 

The  day  arrived  for  the  concerted  attack  on  the  British 
posts  along  the  Delaware  ;  and  complete  success  could  come 
only  from  the  exact  co-operation  of  every  part.  Gates  wilfully 
turned  his  back  on  danger,  duty,  and  honor.  He  disapproved 
of  Washington's  station  above  Trenton  :  the  British  would 
secretly  construct  boats,  pass  the  Delaware  in  his  rear,  and 
take  Philadelpliia ;  Washington  ought  to  retire  to  the  south  of 
the  Sus(piehannah.  Eager  to  intrigue  with  congress  at  Balti- 
more for  the  chief  command  in  the  northern  district.  Gates, 
with  Wilkinson,  rode  away  from  Bristol.  Griffin,  flying  before 
Donop,  had  abandoned  New  Jersey ;  Putnam  would  not  think 
of  conducting  an  expedition  across  the  river. 

At  nightfall  General  John  Cadwalader,  who  w\is  left  in 
sole  command  at  Bristol,  marched  to  Dunk's  ferry ;   it  was 
tl;e  time  of  the  full   moon,  but  the  clouds  were  thick  and 
dark.     :^'or  about  an  hour  that  remained  of  the  ebb-tide  the 
river  was  passable  in  boats,  and  Eeed,  who  just  then  arrived 
from  a  visit  to  Philadelphia,  was  able  to  get  over  with  hie 
horse;  but  the  tide,  beginning  to  rise,  threw  back  the  ice  in 
Buch  heaps  on  the  Jersey  shore  that,  though  men  on  foot  still 
could  cross,  neither  horses  nor  artillery  could  reach  the  land. 
Sending  word  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  their  share 
in  Washington's  plan,  and  leaving  the  party  who  had  crossed 
the  nver  to  return  as  they  could.  Reed  sought  shelter  within 
the  enemy's  lines  at  Buriington.     Meanwhile,  during  one  of 
the  worst  nights  of  December,  the  men  waited  with  arms  in 
their  hai  '-  for  the  floating  ice  to  open  a  passage;  and,  only 
after  the  a  ain  r^nfferings  of  many  ^loui-s,  returned  to  their  camp. 
Cadwalader  •  nd  the  best  men  about  him  were  confident  that 
Washmgton,  Hke  themselves,  must  have  given  up  the  expedi- 
tion.    Ewing  did  not  even  make  an  effort  to  cross  at  Trenton ; 


it 
lis 


m ! 


I!  I, 


!!  i 


^!     f 


9G       AMERICA   IN   ALLIANCE  WITH  FPt ANCE.     ep.  iv.  ;  oa.  vii. 

and  ]\[()ylan,  who  set  off  on  horseback  to  overtake  Waslilngton 
and  sliare  tlie  honors  of  the  day,  became  persiiacled  that  no  at- 
tempt could  be  made  in  such  a  storm,  and  sto])])ed  on  the  road 
for  sheltic. 

Superior  im})ulsos  acted  upon  Washington  and  liis  devoted 
soldiers.     From  his  wasted  troops  he  coukl  nnister  but  twenty- 
four  hundred  men  strong  enough  to  be  his  companions ;  but 
they  were  veterans  and  patriots,  chiefly  of  !N^ew  England, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia.     Among  his  general  ofticers  were 
Greene  and  Mercer  and  Stirling  and  Sullivan;  of  fleld-otlicers 
and  others,  Stark  of  New  Hampshire,  Hand  of  Pennsylvania, 
Glover  and   Knox  of  Massachusetts,  AVobl)  of  Connecticut, 
Scott  and  AVilliam  "W^'ashington  and  James  ]\[onroe  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  Alexander  Hamilton  of  Xew  York.     At  three  in 
the  afternoon  they  began  their  march,  each  man  carrying  three 
days'  provisions  and  forty  rounds:  and  with  eighteen  tield- 
pieccs  they  reached  ]\rackonkey's  ferry  just  as  twilight  began. 
The  swift  and  full  current  was  hui-ling  ak)ng  masses  of  ice. 
At  the  water's  edge  the  mariners  of  ^larblchead  stejiped  for- 
M'ard  to  man  the  boats.     Just  then  a  letter  came  from  Reed, 
announcing  that  no  help  was  to  be  expected  from  Putnam  or 
the  troops  at  Bristol ;  and  Washington,  at  six  o'clock,  wrote 
this  note  to  Cadwalader:  "  Xotwithstaudhig  the  discourasina: 
accounts  I  have  received  from  Colonel  Keed  of  what  nn'dit 
be  expected  from  the  operations  below,  I  am  determined,  as 
the  night  is  favorable,  to  cross  the  river  and  make  the  attack 
on  Trenton  in  the  morning.     If  you  can  do  nothing  real,  at 
least  create  as  great  a  diversion  as  possible."    Hardly  had  these 
words  been  sent  when  Wilkinson  joined  the  trooj)s  "  whose 
route  he  had  easily  traced  by  the  blood  on  the  snow  from  the 
feet  of  the  men  who  wore  broken  shoes."     He  delivei-ed  a 
letter  from   (Jeneral   Gates.     "From  General   Gates!"   said 
Washington;  "where  is  he?"     "On  his  way  to  congress," 
rejilicd  Wilkinson.     Washington  had  only  given  him  a  reluc- 
tant consent  to  go  as  fur  as  Philadel])hia. 

At  that  hour  an  American  i)alrol  of  twenty  or  thirty  men, 
led  by  C^aptain  Anderson  to  reconnoitre  Trenton,  made  a  sud- 
den attack  upon  the  post  of  a  Hessian  subaltern,  and  wounded 
five  or  six  men.     The  akuju  was  sounded,  the  Hessiau  brigade 


1776. 


TEENTON. 


97 


of  ice. 


fl 
I 


put  under  arms,  and  a  part  of  Eall's  regiment  sent  in  pursuit. 
On  their  return,  tliey  re])orted  tliat  tliey  could  discover  noth- 
ing; the  attack,  like  tliose  which  had  been  niade  re])eatedly  be- 
fore, was  held  to  be  of  no  importance.  The  post  was  strength- 
ened ;  additional  patrols  were  sent  out ;  but  every  apprehension 
was  put  to  rest ;  and  Eall,  till  late  into  the  night,  sat  by  his 
warm  fire,  in  his  usual  revels,  while  'Washington  was  crossing 
the  Delaware. 

"The  niglit,"  writes  Thomas  Eodney,  "was  as  severe  a 
night  as  ever  I  saw; ''  the  frost  was  sharp,  tlie  current  difficult 
to  stc;m,  the  ice  increasing,  the  wind  high,  and  at  eleven  it 
began  to  snow.     It  was  three  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
sixth  before  the  troops  and  cannon  were  all  over ;  and  another 
hour  passed  before  tliey  could  be  formed  on  the  Jersey  side. 
A  violent  north-east  storm  of  wind  and  sleet  and  hail  set  in  as 
they  began  then-  nine  miles'  march  to  Trenton,  against  an 
enemy  in  the  best  condition  to  fight.     The  weather  was  terri- 
ble for  men  clad  as  the  Americans  were,  and  the  ground  dlipped 
under  their  foot.     For  a  mile  and  a  half  tliey  had  to  climb  a 
steep  hill,  from  which  they  descended  to  the  road  that  ran  for 
about  three  miles  between  hills  and  tln-ough  forests  of  hickory, 
ash,  and  black  oak.     At  Birmingham  the  force  was  divided ; 
Sullivan  contiimed  near  the  river,  and  Washington  passed  up 
into   the   Pennington   road.     While   Sullivan,  who   had   the 
shortest  route,  luilted  to  give  time  for  the  others  to  arrive,  he 
rcporteci  to  Washington  by  one  of  his  aids  that  the  arms  of  his 
party  were  wet.     "  Then  tell  your  general,"  answered  Wash- 
ington, "to  use  the  bayonet,  and  penetrate  into  the  towm." 
Tlie  return  of  the  aide-de-camp  was  watched  by  the  soldiers ; 
and  hardly  had  he  spoken  when  those  who  had  bayonets  fixed 
theiu  without  waiting  for  a  command. 

It  was  now  broad  day.  The  slumber  of  the  Hessians  had 
been  undisturbed ;  their  patrols  reported  that  all  was  quiet ; 
and  the  night-watch  of  yagers  had  turned  in,  leaving  the  sen- 
tries at  tlieir  seven  advanced  posts,  to  keep  up  the  connnuni- 
cation  between  their  right  and  left  wings.  The  storm  beat 
violently  in  ihe  faces  of  the  Americans ;  the  men  were  stiff 
with  cold  and  a  continuous  march  of  fifteen  miles;  but  now 
that  they  were  near  the  enemy,  they  thouglit  of  nothing  but 


u,,! 


■■    i 


y 


w 


■      :1      ti 


I     I 


Si 


!    i 


98       AMERICA  IN   ALLIANC."   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv. ;  ch.  vii. 

rictory.     ATasbiiigton's  party  began  the  battle  mth  an  attack 
on  the  outermost  picket  on  the  Pennington  road ;  the  men 
with  Stark,  who  led  the  van  of  Sullivan's  party,  gave  three 
cheers,  and  with  the  bayonet  rushed  upon  the  enemy's  picket 
near  the  river.     A  company  came  out  of  the  barracks  to  pro- 
tect the  patrol ;  but,  astonished  at  the  furv  of  the  charge  they 
all,  including  the  yagers,  fled  in  confusion,  escaping  across  the 
Assanpmk,  followed  by  the  dragoons  and  the  party  which  was 
posted  near  the  river  ban!:.     Washington  entered  the  town  by 
Kmg  and  (Jueen  streets,  now  named  after  Warren  and  Greene  • 
Sullivan  moved  by  the  river-road  into  Second  street,  cutting 
off  the  way  to  the  Assanpink  bridge ;  and  both  divisions  pushed 
forward  with  such  equal  ardor  as  never  to  suffer  the  Hessians 
to  form  completely.     The  two  cannon  which  stood  in  front 
of  RaU's  quarters  were  from  the  first  separated  from  the  regi- 
ment to  which  they  belonged.     The  Americans  were  coming 
into  line  of  battle,  when  Eall  made  his  appearance,  received  a 
report,  rode  up  in  front  of  Ids  regiment,  and  cried  out  •  "  For- 
ward, march;  advance,  advance,"  reeling  in  the  saddle  like 
one  not  yet  recovered  from  a  night's  debauch.     Before  his 
own  regiment  could  form  in  the  street  a  party  pushed  on 
rapidly  and  dismounted  its  two  cannon,  with  no  iniury  but 
slight  wounds  to  Captains  William  Washington  and  James 
Monroe.     Under  Washington's  own  direction.  Forest's  Ameri- 
can battey  of  six  guns  was  opened  upon  two  regiments  at  a 
distance  of  less  than  three  hundred  yards.     His  position  was 
near  the  front,  a  little  to  the  right,  a  conspicuous  mark  for 
musketry;   but  he  remained  unhurt,  though  his  horse  was 
wounded  under  him.     The  moment  for  breaking  through  the 
Americans  was  lost  by  Rail,  who  drew  back  the  Los^berS  regi- 
ment and  his  own,  but  witliout  artillery,  into  an  orchaid  east 
of  the  town,  as  if  intending  to  reach  the  road  to  Princeton  by 
turning  Washington's  left.     To  check  this  movement,  Hand's 
regiment  was  thvovm  in  his  front.     By  a  quick  resolve  the 
passage  might  still  have  been  forced ;  but  the  Hessians  had 
been  plundering  ever  since  they  landed  in  the  country;  and, 
loath  to  leave  behind  tlie  wealth  which  they  had  amassed,  they 
urged  Kail  to  recover  the  town.     In  the  attempt  to  do  so,  his 
lorce  was  driven  by  tho  impetuous  charge  of  the  Americans 


1776. 


TRENTON.- 


farther  back  than  before;  he  was  himself  struck  bj  a  musket- 
ball;  and  the  two  regiments  were  mixed  confusedly  and  almost 
surrounded.     Riding  up  to  Washington,  Baylor  could  now  re- 
port :  "  Sir,  the  Hessians  have  surrendered."    The  Knvphausen 
regiment,  which  had  been  ordered  to  cover  the  flank,  stro've  to 
reach  the  Assanpink  bridge  through  the  fields  on  the  south- 
east of  the  town ;  but,  losing  time  hi  extricating  their  two  can- 
non from  the  morass,  they  found  the  bridge  guarded  on  each 
side ;  and,  after  a  vain  attempt  to  ford  the  rivulet,  they  sur- 
rendered to  Lord  Stirling  on  condition  of  retaining  their  swords 
and  tlieir  private  baggage.     The  action,  in  which  the  Ameri- 
cans lost  not  one  man,  lasted  thirty-five  minutes.     One  hun 
dred  and  sixty-two  of  the  Hessians  who  at  sunrise  were  in 
Trenton  escaped,  about  fifty  to  Princeton,  the  rest  to  Bor 
dentown;  one  hundred  and  thirty  were  absent  on  command- 
seventeen  were  killed.     All  the  rest  of  Rail's  command,  nine 
hundi-ed  and  forty-six  in  number,   were  taken  prisoners,  of 
whom  seventy-eight  were  wounded.     The  Americans  gained 
twelve  hundred   small-arms,   six  brass  field-pieces,  of  whi-h 
two  were  twelve-pomiders,  and  all  the  standards  of  the  bri- 
gade. 

Congress  by  its  committee  lavished  praise  upon  the  com- 
mander-in-chief   -  You  pay  me  comi^liments,"  answered  Wash- 
ington, "as  If  the  merit  of  that  affair  was  due  solely  to  me- 
but,  I  assure  you,  the  other  gene-al  officers,  who  assisted  me  in 
the  plan  and  execution,  have  full  as  good  a  right  to  your  en- 
comiums as  myself."    The  most  useful  of  them  all  was  Greene. 
r        Until  that  hour  v.ie  life  of  the  United  States  flickered  like" 
a  dymig  flame      "  But  the  Lord  of  hosts  heard  the  cries  of  the 
/    distressed,  and  sent  an  angel  for  their  dehverance,"  wrote  the 
\    pr«^.es  of  the  Pennsylvania  Lutherans.     "  All  our  hopes,"  said 

'    .t'Trr^r^f    Tw'"'  """'''  ^^"*^^  ^^  '^'  ^"WW  affair' 
at  Trenton."     That  victory  turned  the  shadow  of  death  into 
the  mommff.  " 


is- 


la    i-J 


i  I 


iOO      AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. 


OH.  vn. 


S( !  " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


■'  i 


??fM  ! 


r  1 


ASSANPINK  JlST>   rEES-CETOIT. 

Decembek  20,  ITTG-Januaey  1777. 

After  snatcliing  refreshments  from  tlie  captured  stores, 
the  victorious  troops,  worn  out  by  cold,  rain,  snow,  and  storm, 
the  charge  of  nearly  a  thousand  prisoners,  and  the  want  of 
sleep,  set  off  again  in  sleet  driven  by  a  north-east  wind,  and, 
passing  another  terril)le  niglit  at  the  ferry,  recrossed  the  Dela- 
ware. But  Stirling  and  one  half  of  the  soldiers  were  disabled, 
and  two  men  were  frozen  to  death. 

Up  to  this  time  congres;^  had  left  on  their  journals  the 
suggestion  that  a  reunion  with  Great  Britain  might  be  the 
consequence  of  a  delay  in  France  to  declare  in  their  favor; 
at  Baltimore,  before  the  victory  at  Trenton  was  known,  it  was 
voted  to  "  assure  foreign  courts  that  the  congress  and  people 
of  Amenca  are  determined  to  maintain  their  independence  at 
all  events."  Treaties  of  commerce  were  to  be  offered  to  Prus- 
sia, to  "Vienna,  and  to  Tuscany ;  their  intervention  was  in- 
voiced to  prevent  Russian  or  German  troops  from  serving 
against  the  United  States,  and  a  sketch  was  drawn  for  an  of- 
fensive alliance  with  Franco  and  Spain  against  Great  Britain. 

Tlie  independence  which  the  nation  pledged  its  faith  to 
other  countries  to  maintain  could  be  secured  only  through  the 
army.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  Deceml)er  the  urgent  letters  of 
"Washington  and  Gi'cene  were  read  in  congress,  and  referred 
to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  "Wilson,  and  Samuel  Adams ;  and,  on 
the  next  day,  "  congress  having  maturely  considered  the  present 
crisis,  and  having  perfect  reliance  on  the  wisdom,  vigor,  and  up- 
rightness of  General  Washijigton,"  resolved  that,  in  addition  to 


1776. 


ASSANPINK  AND  PRINCETON-. 


101 


the  eiglity-eiglit  battalions  to  be  f urnislied  by  the  separate  states, 
he  might  himself,  as  the  general  of  the  United  States,  raise^ 
organize,  and  officer  sixteen  battt^lions  of  infantry,  three  thou- 
sand hght  horsemen,  three  regiments  of  artillery,  and  a  colics 
of  engineers,  to  be  enlisted  indiscriminately  from  all  the  people 
of  all  the  states.     He  was  authorized  to  displace  and  appoint 
all  officers  under  the  rank  of  a  brigadier-general,  and  to  lill  up 
all  vacancies.     He  might  take  necessaries  for  his  army  at  an 
a])praised  value.     These  extraordinary  trusts  were  vested  in 
him  for  six  months.     The  direct  exercise  of  central  power 
over  the  country  as  one  indivisible  republic  was  so  novel  that 
he  wa.«  said  to  have  been  appointed  "dictator  of  America." 
This  Gei-main  asserted  in  the  house  of  commons,  and  Stormont 
at  Paris  repeated  to  Yergennes.    But  congress  granted  only 
tlie  permission  to  the  general  to  enlist  and  organize,  if  he 
could,  a  national  increase  of  his  army.     To  the  president  of 
congress  Washington  thus  acknowledged  the  gr.mt  of  unusual 
military  power:  "Instead  of  thinking  myself  freed  from  all 
civil  obligations  by  this  mark  of  confidence,  I  shall  constantly 
bear  in  mind  that  as  the  sword  was  the  last  resort  for  the  pre- 
servation of  our  liljerties,  so  it  ought  to  be  laid  aside  when 
those  liberties  are  firmly  established.     I  shall  instantly  set 
about  makmg  the  most  necessary  reforms  in  the  army."     For 
tlie  disaffected  whom  he  received  authority  to  arrest,  he  was 
dn-ected  to  account  to  the  states  of  which  they  were  respec- 
tively citizens.     Authority  was  given  to  the  commissioners  in 
France  to  borrow  two  million  pounds  sterling  at  six  per  cent 
for  ten  years ;  vigorous  and  speedy  punishments  were  direct- 
ed for  such  as  should  refuse  to  receive  the  continental  cur- 
rency;  and   "five   millions   of  dollars  were   ordered   to  be 
euutted  on  tlie  faith  of  the  United  States."     Till  the  bills 
could  be  prepared,  Washington  was  left  without  even  paper 
monej'. 

An  hour  before  noon  on  the  twenty-seventh  Cadwalader 
at  Lristol  heard  of  Washington  at  Trenton,  and  took  measures 
to  cross  into  New  Jersey.  Hitchcock's  remnant  of  a  New 
Lng.and  brigade  could  not  move  for  want  of  shoes,  stockings, 
and  breeches  ;  but  these  were  pro.nptlv  su]ipli(.d  fro„i  P],ila- 
delplua.    Donop,  on  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  Hall,  had  precipi- 


:  !'! 


102      AMKRIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  cii.  VIII. 


' 


I 


tately  retreated  by  way  of  Cross  wicks  and  Allentown  to  Princc^ 
ton,  abandoning  liis  stores  and  his  sick  and  wounded  at  Bor- 
dentown,  and  leaving  Burlington  to  be  occupied  by  the  de- 
tachment under  Cadwalader. 

Washington  on  the  twenty-seventh  communicated  to  Cad- 
walader his  scheme  for  driving  the  enemy  to  the  extremity  of 
New  Jersey.     Intending  to  remain  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Delaware,  he  wrote  urgent  letters  to  Macdougall  and  Maxwell 
to  collect  troops  at  Morristown ;  for,  said  he,  "if  the  militia 
of  Jersey  Avill  lend  a  hand,  I  hope  and  expect  to  rescue  their 
country."     To  Heath,  who  was  receiving  large  reinforcements 
from  New  England,  he  sent  orders  to  render  aid  by  way  of 
Ilackensack.     Thror.gh  Lord  Stirling  he  entreated  the  gover- 
nor of  :N'ew  Jersey  to  ct)nvene  the  legislature  of  that  state,  and 
make  the  appointments  of  their  officers  according  to  merit. 
He  took  thought  for  the  subsistence  of  the  troops,  which,  when 
they  should  all  be  assembled,  would  form  a  respectable  force. 
On  the  tAventy-ninth,  while  his  army,  reduced  nearly  one  half 
in  effective  numbers  by  fatigue  in  the  late  attack  on  Trenton, 
was  again  crossijig  the  Delaware,  he  announced  to  congi-ess  his 
purpose  "  to  pursue  the  enemy  and  try  to  beat  up  more  of  their 
quarters,  and,  in  a  word,  in  every  instance,  adopt  such  meas- 
ures as  the  exigency  of  our  affairs  requires  and  our  situation 
will  justify."     On  the  thirtieth  he  rejjaired  to  Trenton,  and 
to  the  officer  connnanding  at  JVIorristown  he  wrote :  "  Be  in 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  me."  *    A  part  of  his  troops  and 
artillery,  impeded  by  ice,  did  not  get  over  till  the  next  day, 
and  on  that  day  the  term  of  enlistment  of  the  eastern  regi- 
ments came  to  an  end.    To  these  veterans  the  conditions  which 
Pennsylvania  allowed  to  her  undisciplined  volunteers  were  of- 
fered, if  they  would  serve  six  weeks  longer;  and  with  one 
voice  they  gave  their  Avord  to  remain,  f     The  paymaster  was 
out  of  money,  and  the  public  credit  was  exhausted.     Washing- 
ton pledged  his  own  fortune,  as  did  other  officers,  especially 

*  Washinfrton  to  tlv-  officor  commanding  at  Morristown.  Trenton,  30  Decem- 
ber 1776.     Sparks's  Wasliin-jton,  iv.,  2r)3. 

•f  Gordon,  ii.,  398,  writes:  "Near  one  half  went  off  before  the  critical  mo- 
mcnt."  This  is  not  correct.  The  critical  days  were  January  1,  •',  3,  in  which 
they  all  ivuderod  the  most  e.isemiai  service. 


on,  viiL 


1770-1777. 


ASSANPIXK   AND  PRINCETON. 


103 


Stark  of  Now  Ilamiisliire.  Eobcrt  Morris  had  Bciit  up  a  little 
more  than  five  hundred  dollars  in  hard  money,  to  aid  in  pro- 
curing intelligence;  again  AVashington  appealed  to  him  :  "If 
it  be  possible,  sir,  to  give  us  assistance,  do  it ;  borrow  money 
while  it  can  be  done ;  wo  are  doing  it  upon  our  private  credit. 
Every  lover  of  his  country  must  strain  his  credit  upon  such  an 
occasion.     No  time  is  to  be  lost." 

At  Quebec  that  last  day  of  December  was  kept  as  a  oen- 
eral  thanksgiving  for  th,  deliverance  of  Canada;  the'^Te 
Beum  was  chanted;  in  the  evening  the  jirovincial  militia 
gave  a  grand  ball,  and,  as  Carleton  entered,  the  crowded 
assemljly  brolce  out  into  loud  cheers,  followed  by  a  song  in 
English  to  his  j^raise.  He  drank  in  the  strain  of  triumph, 
not  dreaming  that  Germain  had  already  issued  orders  for  his 
disgrace. 

On  ^^ew  Year's  morning  R.jbert  IMorris  went  from  house  ^ 
to  house  in  Philadelphia,  rousing  people  from  their  beds  to 
borrow  money  of  them ;  and  early  in  the  day  he  sent  Wash- 
ington fifty  thousand  dollars,  with  the  message :  "  Whatever  I 
can  do  shall  be  done  for  the  good  of  the  service ;  if  further  oc- 
casional supplies  of  money  are  necessary,  you  may  dei)end  upon 
my  exertions  either  in  a  public  or  private  capacity."     Wash- 
ington  brought  with   him   scarcely  more  than   six  hundred 
trusty  men,  and  in  the  choice  of  measures,  all  full  of  peril, 
he  resolved  to  concentrate  his  forces  at  Trenton.     Obedient  to 
his  call,  the  volunteers  joined  him  in  part  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary ;  in  jiart,  after  a  night-march,  on  the  second ;  yet  making 
collectively  a  body  of  less  than  five  thousand  men,  of  whom 
three  fifths  or  more  were  just  from  their  families  and  warm 
houses,  ignorant  of  war. 

On  the  second  of  January  1777,  Cornwallis,  leaving  three 
regiments  and  a  company  of  cavalry  at  Prhiceton,  "adVanced 
ui)()n"  the  Americans  with  the  flower  of  the  13r';ish  army,  just 
as  Washington  had  expected."'  The  air  was  wann  and  moist, 
the  road  soft,  so  that  their  march  was  slow.  From  Maiden- 
head, where  they  were  delayed  by  skirmishers,  and  wliere  one 
brigade  nnder  Leslie  remained,  they  pressed  forward  with 
more  than  five  thousand  British  and  Hessians.  At  Five  Wde 
*  Washiugton  to  congress,  5  January  1Y77, 


.1" 


;(t 


%\ 


i\ 


I 


'i1 


ii         ! 


}'•    I 


', 


(  I 

i 

r  i 


r  \'>    M 


tlil 


i    ;: 


'  I'll 


it  ' 


104     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. 


en.  vni. 


Run  tliey  fell  upon  Hand  and  his  riflemen,  wlio  continued  to 
dispute  every  step  of  his  progress.  At  Shabbakonk  creek, 
troops  secreted  within  the  wood  on  the  flanks  of  the  road 
embarrassed  them  for  two  hours.  On  the  hill  less  than  a  mile 
above  Trenton  they  were  confronted  by  about  six  hundred 
musketeers  and  two  skilfully  managed  field-pieces,  supported 
by  a  detachment  under  Greene.  This  party,  when  attacked 
by  artillery,  withdrew  in  good  order. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon  Washington  took  command  of 
the  rear  of  the  army,  and,  while  Cornwallis  sought  to  outflank 
him,  detained  the  British  until  those  of  his  own  army  who 
had  passed  the  Assanpink  gained  time  to  plant  their  cannon 
beyond  the  rivulet.  The  enemy,  as  they  advanced,  were  wor- 
ried by  musketry  from  houses  and  barns.  Their  attempt  to 
force  the  bridge  was  repulsed.  The  Americans  had  all  safely 
passed  over;  the  Assanpink  could  not  be  forded  without  a 
battle,  for  beyond  it  stood  the  main  body  of  the  American 
army,  silent  in  their  ranks  and  already  protected  by  batteries. 
Late  as  it  was  in  the  day,  Simcoe  advised  at  once  to  pass  over 
the  Assanpink  to  the  right  of  "  the  rebels  "  and  bring  on  a 
general  action ;  and  Sir  William  Erskine  feared  that,  if  it  were 
put  oif,  Washington  might  get  away  before  morning.  But 
the  sun  was  nearly  down ;  the  night  threatened  to  be  foggy 
and  dai'k ;  the  British  troops  were  worn  out  with  skirmishes 
and  a  long  march  over  heavy  roads ;  the  attitude  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  was  imposing.  Connvallis  sent  messengers  in  all  haste 
for  the  brigade  at  Maidenhead,  and  for  two  of  the  three  regi- 
ments at  Princeton,  and  put  off  the  fight  till  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  British  army,  sleeping  by  their  fires,  bivouacked 
on  the  hill  above  Trenton,  while  their  pickets  were  pushed 
forward  along  the  Assanpink,  to  vatch  the  army  of  Washing- 
ton. Confident  in  their  vigilance,  the  general  officers  took 
their  repose. 

JS^ot  so  Washington.  From  his  slow  retreat  througli  the 
Jerseys,  and  his  long  halt  in  the  first  week  of  December  at 
Trenton,  he  knew  the  by-ways  leading  out  of  the  place,  and 
the  roads  to  Brunswick,  where  the  baggage  of  the  British 
troops  was  de;)osited.  He  first  ascertained  by  an  exploring 
party  that  the  p-ith  to  Princeton  on  the  south  side  of  the  As- 


1777. 


ASSANPINK  AND  PRINCETON'. 


105 


sanpink  was  iingiiarded.*  He  was  aware  that  there  were  but 
few  troops  at  Princeton,  and  that  Brunswick  had  retained  but 
a  small  guard  for  its  rich  magazines.  He  therefore  followed 
oat  the  plan  which  had  existed  in  germ  from  the  time  of  his 
deciding  to  re-enter  New  Jersey,  and  prepared  to  turn  the  left 
of  Cornwallis,  overwhelm  the  pc.rty  at  Princeton,  and  push  on 
if  possible  to  Bruns^^•ick,  or,  if  there  were  danger  of  pursuit 
to  seek  the  high  ground  on  the  way  to  Morristo^vn.  When  it 
became  dark  he  ordered  the  baggage  of  his  army  to  be  removed 
noiselessly  to  Burlington.f 

Soon  after  midmght,  sending  word  to  Putnam  to  occupy 
Crosswicks,  AVashington  "marched  his  army  round  the  head 
of  the  creek  into  the  Princeton  road."  ^  The  wind  veered  to 
the  north-west;  the  weather  suddenly  became  cold;  and  the 
by-road,  lately  difficult  for  artillery,  was  soon  frozen  hard, 
truards  were  left  to  replenish  the  American  camp-fires  which 
«amed  along  the  Assanpink  for  more  than  half  a  mile,  and 
the  drowsy  British  night-watch  similised  nothing. 

*  Ewald's  Beyspicle  grosser  Holden.    Ewald,  who  was  a  man  of  uprightness 
vgihince,  and  judgment,  is  a  ^reat  authority,  as  ho  was  present 

tho  \I1-^  ""r^T"  °!  ^^r.'-'^''''''''  S'-  ^"^ir,  written  in  16 ,  .',  must  bo  tested  by 
the  laus  of  h>stor.eaI  cntidsm.     Washington  settled  his  plan  on  the  first  of 
J.'.uuary  1 , ,  7,  and  did  but  adhere  to  it  on  the  second  and  third.     St  Clair's  Nar 
rafve  was  wntten  after  many  y.ars,  in  his  extreme  old  age,  is  self-laudatory  Z 
no  voucher  but  its  author,  and  contain,  a  statement  which  is  certainly    Ltly 
oppo.te  to  the  truth.     Saint-Clair's  Narrative,  242,  243 :  "No  one  gene.al  oS 
except  myself  knew  anything  of  the  upper  country."    Now,  Sullivan  knew  it  hot 
tor;  as  did  all  the  officers  of  Lee's  division,  and  Lrk,  ToorJ^Z^l^^ 
England  Sargent  and  Oilman,  and  all  the  officers  of  their  regiments.     St  Clai  " 
story  ,s  not  supported  on  any  one  point  by  eonten.porarv  writers,  and  the  conteL 
porary  wnters  arc  very  numerous  and  careful.     St.  Clair  profess  s  to  remember  a 
uuncl  of  war  held  ou  the  evening  of  January  second.    There  exists  no  accoun   o^ 
any  such  councl  by  any  one  else  of  the  tin.e.     The  council  of  officers  known  to 
have  been  summoned  nearest  that  time  was  held  early  in  the  morning  of  the  third 
of  January  0,  Princeton,  at  which  council  the  opinion  of  each  of  the  general  or  cs 
was  g^en  on  the  point,  whether  to  go  forward  to  Brunswick  or  at  once  take  the 

t.on,  34,  35,  ,s  out  of  the  way  In  the  advice  he  attributes  to  Mercer:  "One  course 
et  "w't-  7  T;f'  °''  '""^  *''^  '^^  '"  °^^^^  "P  '"^^  ^'•"'"delphia  militia;-- 
Toro  aT  T  "f  .     I  '''""  "^'"^'  "^  ''''  Philadelphia  militia,  and  th  y 

«  re  at  Trenton  on  the  first  of  January.  Sparks's  Washington,  iv.,  258  Mi^ 
takes  like  this  of  St.  Clair  are  very  common.  - 'v.,  .08.     Mis^ 

it:  Caesar  ivodney  to  George  Read,  23  January  177V.    MS. 


106     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Ev.  IV. ;  en.  vm. 


hii. 


Arriving  about  sunrise  in  tho  soutli-cast  outskirts  of  Prince- 
ton, "Washington  and  the  main  body  of  the  army  wheeled  to 
the  right  by  a  back  road  to  tho  colleges,  while  Mercer  was 
detached  toward  the  west,  with  about  three  hundred  and  iifty 
men,  to  break  down  the  bridge  over  Stony  brook,  on  the  main 
road  to  Trenton.     Two  British  regiments  were  already  on  their 
march  to  join  Comwallis ;  the  seventeenth  with  three  compa- 
nies of  horse,  under  Mawhood,  was  more  than  a  mile  in  advance 
of  the  lifty-tifth,  and  had  already  passed  Stony  brook.      On 
discovering  in  his  rear  a  small  body  of  Americans,  apparently 
not  larger  than  his  own,  he  recrossed  the  rivulet,  and,  formino- 
a  junction  with  a  part  of  the  iifty-fiftli  and  other  detachments 
on  their  march,  hazarded  an  engagement  with  Mercer.     Tho 
parties  were  nearly  e(jual  in  numbers ;  each  had  two  pieces  of 
artillery  ;  but  th(j  English  were  fresh  from  undisturbed  repose, 
while  the  Amei'icans  were  suffering  from  a  night-marcli  of 
eighteen  miles.     Both  jjarties  moved  toward  high  ground  that 
lay  north  of  them,  on  the  right  of  the  Americans.     A  heavy 
discharge  from  the  English  artillery  was  returned  by  Neil  from 
two  New  Jersey  field-pieces.   After  a  short  but  brisk  cannonade, 
the  Americans,  climbing  over  a  fence  to  confront  the  British, 
were  the  first  to  use  their  guns ;  Mawliood's  infantry  returned 
the  volley,  and  soon  charged  with  their  bayonets ;  the  Ameri- 
cans, for  the  most  part  rillemen  without  bayonets,  gave  way, 
abandoning  their  cannon.     Their  gallant  officers,  loath  to  fiy, 
were  left  in  their  rear,  endeavoring  to  call  back  the  fugitives. 
In  this  way  fell  Haslet,  the  brave  colonel  of  the  Delaware  reo-i- 
ment;  Neil,  who  stayed  by  his  battery;  Fleming,  the  gal- 
lant leader  of  all  that  remained  of  the  first  Virginia  regiment ; 
and  other  ofiiccrs  of  promise ;  and  the  able  General  Mercer, 
whose   horse   had  been  disabled  under  him,  was  wounded, 
loiocked  down,  and  then  stabbed  many  times  with  the  bayo- 
net.    Just  then  "Washington,  who  had  turned  at  the  sound  of 
the  cannon,  came  upon  the  ground  by  a  movement  whicli  in- 
tercei)ted  the  main  body  of  the  British  fifty-fifth  regiment. 
The  Pennsylvania  militia,  supported  by  two  pieces  of  art^'llery, 
were  the  first  to  form  their  line.     "  With  admirable  coolness 
and  address,"  Mawhood  attempted  to  carry  their  battery ;  the 
way-worn  novices  began  to  waver ;  on  the  instant,  'Washing- 


'l  I 


1777. 


ASSANriNK  AND  PRINCETON. 


107 


ton,  from  «  his  desire  to  animate  his  troops  by  example  "  rode 
witliin  less  tlian  thirty  yards  of  the  British,  and  reined  in  his 
horse  witli  its  head  toward  them.     Each  party  at  the  same 
moment  gave  a  volley,  but  Washington  remained  untouched 
Ilitchcock,  for  whom  a  burning  hectic  made  this  day  nearly 
his  last,  brought  up  his  brigade ;  and  the  British,  seeing  Hand's 
riflemen  beginning  to  turn  their  left,  fled  over  fields  and  fences 
up  Stony  brook.     The  action,  from  the  first  contact  with  Mer- 
cer, did  not  last  more  than  twenty  minutes.     Washington  on 
the  battle-ground  took  Ilitchcock  by  the  hand  and  thanked 
him  for  his  service.     Mawhood  left  two  brass  field-pieces, 
which   from  want  of  horses,  the  Americans  could  not  carry 
off.    He  was  chasad  three  or  fom  miles,  and  manv  of  his  men 
were  taken  prisoner. 

The  fifty-fifth  British  regiment,  after  resisting  gallantly 
the  New  England  troops  of  Stark,  Poor,  Patterson,  Reed,  and 
others,  retreated  with  the  fortieth  to  the  college;  and,  when 
pieces  of  artillery  were  brought  up,  escaped  across  the  fields 
into  a  back  road  toward  Brunswick.  The  British  lost  on  that 
day  about  two  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  and  two  hundred 
and  thirty  prisoners;  the  American  loss  was  small,  except  of 
officers.  ^ 

_     At  Trenton,  on  the  return  of  day,  the  generals  were  aston- 
ishedat  not  seeing  the  American  army;  the  noise  of  cannon 
at  Princeton  first  revealed  whither  it  was  gone.     In  constema- 
tion  for  the  safety  of  the  magazines  at  Brunswick,  Cornwallis 
roused  his  army  and  began  a  swift  pursuit.      His  advanced 
party  from  Maidenhead  reached  Princeton  just  as  the  town 
was  left  by  the  American  rear.     It  had  been  a  part  of  Wash- 
ington s  plan  as  he  left  Trenton  to  seize  Brunswick,  which 
wa.  eighteen  miles  distant ;  but  many  of  his  brave  soldiers 
such  IS  the  concurrent  testimony  of  English  and  Germ^m  od 
cers  as  welUs  of  AYashington,  were  "  quite  barefoot,  and  were 
badly  clad  m  other  respects;"  all  were  exliausted  by  the  ser- 
vice of  two  days  and  a  night,  from  action  to  action,  almost 
without  refreshment ;  and  the  army  of  Cornwallis  was  close 
upon  their  rear.    So,  with  the  advice  of  his  ofiicei^,  after 
breakmg  up  the  bridge  at  Kingston  oyer  the  Millstone  river, 
VV^u^hingtun  made  for  the  highlands,  and  halted  for  the  nigh 

VOL,    V. — 9  ° 


r    ! 


108      AMERICA  I?^  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     kimt.  ;  on.  vm. 


Mf 


;     t' 


r   iti 


(  jji; 


Hi!     ' 


at  Somerset  conrt-lioiise.     There,  in  the  woods,  worn-out  men 
eank  down  on  the  frozen  ground  luid  fell  asleep. 

The  example  and  the  orders  of  Washington  roused  the  peo- 
ple anjund  him  to  arms.  On  the  fifth,  the  day  of  his  arrival 
at  Morristown,  a  party  of  "\V''al<leckers,  attacked  at  Springfield 
ly  an  equal  number  of  the  New  Jersey  militia  under  Oliver 
Spencer,  were  put  to  flight,  losing  forty-eight  men,  of  whom 
thirty-nine  were  i)ri8oner8.  On  the  same  day,  at  the  approach 
of  George  Clinton  with  troops  from  Peekskill,  the  Biitish 
force  at  llackensack  saved  their  haggage  by  a  timely  flight. 
Newark  was  abandoned ;  Elizabethtown  was  surprised  by 
Maxwell,  who  took  much  baggage  and  a  hundred  prisoners. 

The  eighteenth,  which  was  the  king's  birthday,  was  chosen 
for  investing  Sir  William  Howe  with  the  order  of  the  Bath. 
But  it  was  become  a  mockery  to  call  him  a  victorious  general ; 
and  both  he  and  Germain  had  a  foresight  of  failure,  for  which 
each  of  them  was  preparing  to  throw  the  blame  on  the  other. 

In  New  Jersey  all  went  well.  On  the  twentieth,  General 
Philemon  Dickinson,  with  about  four  hundi-ed  raw  troops, 
forded  the  Millstone  river,  ueai'  Somerset  court-house,  and 
defeated  a  foraging  party,  taking  a  few  prisoners,  sheep  and 
cattle,  forty  wagons,  and  upward  of  a  hundred  horses  of  the 
English  draught  breed.  Washington  made  his  head-quartci-s 
at  Morristown ;  and  there,  and  in  the  surrounding  villages,  his 
troops  found  shelter.  The  largest  encampment  was  hi  Spring 
valley,  on  the  southern  slope  of  Madison  Hill ;  the  outposts 
extended  to  within  three  miles  of  Amljoy ;  and,  though  there 
was  but  the  phantom  of  an  army,  the  British  in  New  Jersey 
were  confined  to  Bn  nswiek,  Amboy,  and  Paulus  IIo  ':. 

Under  the  last  proclamation  of  the  brothers,  two  thousand 
seven  himdred  and  three  Jerseymen,  besides  eight  hundred 
and  fifty-one  in  Khode  Island,  and  twelve  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  in  the  rural  districts  and  city  of  New  York,  subscribed  a 
declaration  of  fidelity  to  the  British  king ;  on  the  four^'^enth 
of  January,  just  as  the  period  for  subscription  was  about  to  ex- 
pire, Germain,  who  grudged  every  act  of  mercy,  sent  orders  to 
the  IIowGS  not  to  let  "  the  undeserving  escape  that  punishmen-t 
which  is  due  to  their  crimes,  and  which  it  Avill  be  expedient 
to  inflict  for  the  sake  of  example  to  futurity."     Eleven  days 


1777. 


ASSANPINK  AiND  PRINCETON. 


109 


after  tlio  date  of  this  order,  Washington,  the  harbinger  and 
champion  of  union,  waa  in  a  condition  to  demand,  by  a  proo- 
laination  in  the  name  of  the  United  States,  that  those  who 
liad  accepted  U-itish  protections  "should  withdi-aw  within  the 
enemy's  lines,  or  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  of  Anierica."     To  this  order  Clark,  a  member  of  con- 
gress from  New  Jersey,  interposed  tlie  objection  that  "an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  was  absurd  before  confeder- 
ation ; "  for  as  yet  it  was  reserved  to  each  s^ate  to  outlaw  those 
of  its  inhabitants  who  refused  allegiance  to  itself.     The  indis- 
criminate rapacity  of  the  Jiritish  and  Hessians,  their  lust,  their 
unrestrained  passion  for  destruction,  united  the  people  of  New 
Jersey  in  courage  and  the  love  of  liberty. 

The  result  of  the  campaign  was  inauspicious  for  Britain 
New  England,  except  tho  island  of  Ehode  Island,  all  central^ 
northern,  and  western  :^ew  York  except  Fort  Niagara,  all  the 
country  from  the  Delaware  to  Florida,  were  free.  The  in- 
vaders had  acquired  only  the  islands  that  touched  New  York 
harbor,  and  a  few  adjacent  outposts,  of  which  Brunswick  and 
the  hills  round  King's  Bridge  were  the  most  remote.  When- 
ever they  passed  beyond  their  straitened  quai'ters  they  raet  re- 
sistance. They  were  wasted  by  incessant  alarms ;  their  forage 
and  provisions  were  purchased  at  the  price  of  blood. 

_  The  contemporary  British  historians  of  the  war  have  not 
withheld  praise  from  Washington's  conduct  and  enterprise. 
His  own  army  blamed  nothing  but  the  little  care  he  took  of 
himself  while  in  action.  Cooper  of  Boston  bears  mtness  that 
"the  confidence  of  the  people  everywhere  in  him  was  beyond 
example."  In  congress,  which  was  already  distracted  by  sel- 
fish schemers,  there  were  signs  of  impatience  at  his  superior- 
:ty,  and  an  obstinate  reluctance  to  own  that  the  depressed 
condition  of  the  country  was  due  to  their  having  refused  to 
heed  his  advice.  To  a  proposition  of  the  nineteenth  of  Febru- 
ary for  giving  him  the  nomination  of  general  ofiicers,  John 
Adams  objected  vehemently,  saying,  as  repori;ed  by  Rush-  "I 
am  sorry  to  find  the  love  of  the  first  place  prevail  so  very  little 
in  this  house.  I  have  been  tUstressed  to  see  some  of  our  mem- 
bers disposed  to  idolize  an  image  which  their  own  hands  have 
molten.     I  speak  of  the  superstitious  veneration  which  is  paid 


^*1 


iij 


J 


M 


Hill        :     il 

ii       ;    ii  " 


110      AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 

to  General  Washington.  I  lionor  liim  for  his  good  qnalities; 
but,  in  this  house,  I  feel  myself  his  superior.  In  private  life 
I  shall  always  acknowledge  him  to  be  mine."  On  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  February,  when  they  voted  to  Washington  mere  "  ideal 
reinforcements,"  and  then,  after  a  debate,  in  which  some  of  the 
New  England  delegates  and  one  from  New  Jersey  showed  a 
willingness  to  insult  him,  they  expressed  their  "earnest  desire" 
that  he  would  "not  only  curb  and  confine  the  enemy  within 
their  preseni  quarters,  but,  by  the  divine  blessing,  totally  sub- 
due them  before  they  could  be  reinforced."  Well  might 
Washington  reply :  "  What  hope  can  there  be  of  my  effecting 
80  desirable  a  work  at  this  time  ?  The  whole  of  our  numbers 
in  New  Jersoy  lit  for  duty  is  under  three  thousand."  The 
absurd  paragraph  was  carried  by  a  bare  majority,  "Richard 
Henry  Lee  bringing  Virginia  to  the  side  of  the  four  eastern 
states,  against  the  two  Carolinas,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

There  were  not  wanting  members  more  just.     "  Washing- 
ton is  the  greatest  man  on  earth,"  wrote  Robert  Morris  from 
Philadelphia,   on  the   first  of  February.      From  Baltimore, 
William  Hooper,  the  able  representative  from  North  Carolina,' 
rephed:  "Will  iiosterity  behove  the  tale?     When  it  shall  be 
consistent  with  policy  to  give  the  history  of  that  man  from  his 
first  introduction  into  our  service,  how  often  America  has  been 
rescued  from  ruin  by  the  mere  strength  of  his  genius,  conduct, 
and  courage,  encountering  every  obstacle  that  want  of  money, 
men,  arms,  ammunition,  could  throw  in  his  way,  an  impartial 
world  will  say  with  you  that  he  is  the  greatest"  nuin  on'earth. 
Misfortunes  are  the  element  in  which  he  shines ;  they  are  the 
groundwork  on  which  liis  picture  appears  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vcmtago.     He  rises  superior  to  them  all ;  they  serve  as  foils  to 
his  fortitude  and  as  stiuudants  to  bring  into  view  those  great 
qualities  which  his  modesty  keeps  concealed.     I  could  fill  the 
side  in  his  praise ;  but  anything  I  can  say  can  not  equal  his 
merits.'' 


,  u 


ideal 


1776-1783.      THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  STATES. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   CONSTITUTIOxXS   OF   THE   SEVEKAL   STATES   OF   AMERICA. 

1776-1783. 

_      Had  the  decision  of  the  war  hung  on  armies  alone,  Amer- 
ica might  not  liave  gained  the  victory;   but  the  spirit  of  the 
age  assisted  the  young  nation  to  own  justice  as  older  and 
higher  than  the  state,  and  to  found  the  rights  of  the  citizen  on 
the  rights  of  man.     And  yet,  in  regenerating  its  institutions. 
It  was  not  guided  by  any  speculative  theory.     Its  form  of 
government  grew  naturally  out  of  its  traditions  by  the  simple 
rejection  of  all  personal  hereditary  authority,  which  in  Amer- 
ica  had  never  had  more  than  a  representative  existence.     Its 
industrious  aud  frugal  people  were  accustomed  to  the  cry  of 
liberty  and  property  ;  they  harbored  no  dream  of  a  community 
of  goods ;  and  their  love  of  equahty  never  degenerated  into 
envy  ot  the  rich.     No  successors  of  the  fifth-monarchy  men 
proposed  to  substitute  an  unwritten  higher  law,  interpreted  by 
individual  conscience,  for  the  law  of  the  land  and  the  decrees 
of  human  tribunals.     The  people  proceeded  with  moderation. 
Their  large  inheritance  of  EngHsh  liberties  saved  them  from 
the  necessity  aud  from  the  wish  to  uproot  their  old  political 
institutions;  and  as,  happil.,,  the  scalfold  was  not  wet  with  the 
blood  of  their  statesmen,  there  arose  no  desperate  hatred  of 
England,  such  as  the  Netherlands  kept  up  for  centuries  against 
bpain     The  wrongs  inflicted  or  attempted  by  the  British  king 
were  felt  to  have  been  avenged  by  independence ;  respect  and 
affection  remained  for  the  parent  land,  from  which  the  United 
states  had  derived  trial  by  jury,  the  writ  for  personal  liberty, 
the  practice  of  representative  government,  and  the  separation 


f  1 


I 


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111 

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a 


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p.^ 

P^ 

M'    'i 

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1   I 


112        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.iv.;  oh.  ix. 

of  the  three  great  co-ordinate  powers  in  the  state.  From  an 
essentially  aristocratic  model  America  took  just  what  suited 
her  condition,  and  rejected  the  rest.  The  transition  of  the 
colonies  into  self-existing  commonwealths  was  free  from  vin- 
dictive bitterness,  and  attended  by  no  violent  or  wide  de- 
parture from  the  past. 

In  all  the  states  it  was  held  that  sovereignty  resides  in  the 
people  ;  that  the  majesty  of  supreme  command  belongs  of 
right  to  their  collective  intelligence;  that  government  is  to 
be  originated  by  their  impulse,  organized  by  tlieir  consent, 
and  conducted  by  their  iml)odied  will ;  that  they  alone  pos- 
sess the  living  energy  out  of  which  all  power  flows  forth ;  that 
they  are  the  sole  legitimate  master  to  name,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, tlie  officers  in  the  state,  and  bind  them  as  then-  servants 
to  toil  only  for  the  common  good. 

The  Amei'!  an  people  went  to  the  great  work  vithout  mis- 
givingr.     They  were  confident  that  the  judgment  of  the  sum 
of    ^ .,  individual  members  of  the  community  was  the  safest 
criterion  of  truth  in  public  affairs.     They  harbored  no  fear 
that  the  voice  even  of  a  wayward  majority  would  be  more 
capricious  or  more  fallible  than  the  good  pleasure  of  an  heredi- 
tary monarch  ;  and,  unappalled  by  the  skepticism  of  European 
kings,  they  proceeded  to  extend  self-government  over  regions 
which,  in  previous  ages,  had  been  esteemed  too  vast  for  re- 
publican rule.     Of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  they  were  con- 
scious of  having  had  the  most  varied  experience  in  repre- 
sentative government,  and  in  the  application  of  the  principles 
of  popular  power.     The  giant  forms  of  absolute  monarchies 
on  their  way  to  niin  cast  over  the  world  their  fearful  shadows ; 
it  was  time  to  constniet  states  on  the  basis  of  inherent,  in- 
alienable right.     It  is  bcjcause  England  nurtured  her  colonies 
in  freedom  that,  even  in  the  midst  of  civil  war,  they  cherished 
her  name  with  affection. 

Of  the  American  statesmen  who  assisted  to  frame  the  new 
government,  not  one  had  been  originally  a  republican.  But,  if 
the  necessity  of  adopting  purely  ])opular  institutions  came  upon 
them  unexpectedlj,  the  ages  had  prepared  for  them  their  plans. 
The  recommendations  to  form  governments  proceeded  from 
the  general  congress  ;  the  work  was  done  by  the  several  states, 


1776-1783.      THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  STATES. 


113 


in  the  full  enjoyment  of  self-direction.     Each  of  them  claimed 
to  be  of  right  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  state ;  each 
bound  its  officers  to  bear  to  it  true  allegiance,  and  to  maintain 
its  freedom  and  independence.     Massachusetts,  which  was  the 
first  state  to  frame  a  government  independent  of  the  king, 
deviated  as  little  as  possible  from  the  letter  of  its  charter; 
and,  assuming  that  the  place  of  governor  was  vacant  from 
the  nineteentli  of  July  1775,  it  recognised  the  council  as  the 
legal  successor  to  executive  power.     On  the  first  day  of  May 
1776,  in  all  commissions  and  legal  processes,  it   substituted 
the  name  of  its  "government  and  people"  for  that  of  the 
king.     In  June  1777,  its  legislature  assumed  power  to  prepare 
a  constitution ;  but,  on  a  reference  to  the  people,  the  act  was 
disavoAved.     In  September  1779,  a  convention,  which  the  peo- 
ple themselves  had  specially  authorized,  framed  a  constitution. 
It  was  in  a  good  measure  the  coaipilation  of  John  Adams,  who 
was  guided  by  the  English  constitution,  by  the  bill  of  rights 
of  Yirginia,  and  by  the  experience  of  Massachusetts  herself ; 
and  this  constitution,  having  been  approved  by  the  people, 
went  into  effect  in  1780. 

On  the  fifth  of  January  1770,  New  Hampshire  shaped  its 
government  with  the  fewest  possible  changes  from  its  colonial 
forms,  like  Massachusetts  merging  the  executive  power  in  the 
council.  Kot  till  Juno  1783  did  its  convention  agree  upon  a 
more  perfect  instrument,  which  was  approved  by  the  people, 
and  established  on  the  thirty-first  of  the  follomng  October. 

The  provisional  constitution  of  South  Carolina  dates  from 
the  twenty-sixth  of  March  177G.  In  March  1778,  a  penna- 
nent  constitution  was  introduced  by  an  act  of  the  legislature. 

Khode  Island  enjoyed  under  its  charter  a  form  of  govern- 
ment  so  thoroughly  republican  that  the  rejection  of  mon- 
archy, in  May  1770,  required  no  change  beycnd  a  renunciation 
of  the  king's  name  in  the  style  of  its  public  acts.  A  disfran- 
cliisement  of  Catholics  had  stolen  into  its  book  of  laws  ;  but, 
so  soon  as  it  was  noticed,  the  clause  was  ex-jmuged. 

In  like  manner,  Connecticut  had  only  to  substitute  the  peo- 
ple of  the  colony  for  the  name  of  the  king ;  this  was  done 
provisionally  on  the  fonrteentli  of  June  1770,  and  made  per- 
petual  on  the  tenth  of  the  following  October. 


nil 


114    AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FKANCE.    ep.iv.:  oh.  ix. 


;:'f 


>    II       .1 


il 


I 


Before  the  end  of  June  of  the  same  year  Yirginia,  sixth  in 
the  series,  first  in  the  completeness  of  her  work,  by  a  legisla- 
tive convention  without  any  further  consultation  of  the  people, 
framed  and  adopted  a  bill  of  rights,  a  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, and  a  constitution. 

On  the  second  of  July  1776,  New  Jersey  perfected  its  new, 
self -created  charter. 

Delaware  next  proclaimed  its  bill  of  rights,  and,  on  the 
twentieth  of  September  1776,  the  representatives  in  convention 
having  been  chosen  by  the  freemen  of  the  state  for  that  very 
purpose,  finished  its  constitution. 

The  Pennsylvania  convention  adopted  its  constitution  on 
the  twenty-eighth  of  September  1776;  but  the  opposition 
of  the  Quakers  whom  it  indirectly  disfranchised,  and  of  a  large 
body  of  patriots,  delayed  its  thorough  organization  for  more 
than  five  months. 

The  delegates  of  Maryland,  meeting  on  the  fourteenth  of 
August  1776,  framed  its  constitution  with  great  deliberation  ; 
it  was  established  on  the  ninth  of  the  following  November. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  Deceml)er  1776,  the  constitution  of 
North  Carolina  was  ratified  in  the  congress  which  framed  it. 

On  the  fifth  of  February  1777,  Georgia  perfected  its  or- 
ganic law  by  the  unanimous  agreement  of  its  convention. 

Last  of  the  thirteen  came  New  York,  whose  empowered 
convention,  on  the  twentieth  of  April  1777,  established  a  con- 
stitution that,  in  humane  liberality,  excelled  them  all. 

The  privilege  of  the  suffrage  had  been  far  more  Avidely  ex- 
tended in  the  colonies  than  in  England ;  by  general  consent, 
the  extension  of  the  elective  franchise  was  postponed.     The  age 
of  twenty-one  was  a  qualification  universally  required      So, 
too,  was  residence,  except  that  in  Virginia  and  South  Carolina 
it  was  enough  to  own  in  the  district  or  town  a  certain  free- 
hold or  "  lot."     South  Carolina  required  the  electors  to  "  ac- 
knowledge the  being  of  a  God,  and  to  believe  in  a  future  state 
of  rewards  and  punishments."     White  men  alone  could  claim 
the  franchise  in  Yirginia,  in  South  Carolina,  and  in  Georgia ; 
but  in  South  Carolhia  a  benign  interpretation  of  the  law  classed 
the  free  octaroon  as  a  white,  even  though  descended  through  an 
unbroken  line  of  mothers  from  an  imported  African  slave  ;  the 


1776-1783.      THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  THE   STATES.  115 

Other  ten  states  raised  no  question  of  color.  In  Pennsylvania 
in  New  Ilarapsbire,  and  partially  in  North  Carolina,  the  right 
to  vote  belonged  to  every  resident  tax-payer;  Georgia  ex- 
tended it  to  any  Avhite  inhabitant  "  of  any  mechanic  trade  ; " 
with  this  exception,  Georgia  and  all  the  other  colonies  required 
the  possession  of  a  freehold,  or  of  property  variously  valued,  in 
Massachusetts  at  about  two  hundred  dollars,  in  Georgia  at  ten 
pounds.  Similar  conditions  had  always  existed,  with  the  con- 
currence or  by  the  act  of  the  colonists  themselves. 

Maryland  prescribed  as  its  mle  that  votes  should  be  given 
by  word  of  mouth ;  Virginia  and  New  Jersey  made  no  change 
in  their  usage ;  in  Ehode  Island  each  freeman  was  in  theory 
summoned  to  be  present  in  the  general  court ;  he  therefore 
gave  his  proxy  to  his  representative  by  writing  his  own  name 
on  the  back  of  his  vote ;  all  others  adopted  the  ballot.  New 
York  at  the  end  of  the  war,  the  other  eight  without  delay. 

Tlie  first  great  want  common  to  all  was  a  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, so  near  the  people  as  to  be  the  image  of  their 
thoughts  and  wishes,  so  numerous  as  to  appear  to  every  voter 
his  dii-ect  counterpart,  so  frequently  renewed  as  to  insure  swift 
responsibility.     Such  a  body  every  one  of  them  had  enjoyed 
while   connected  with   Britain.     They  now  gained  certainty 
as  to  the  times  of  meeting  of  the  assemblies,  precision  in  the 
periods  of  election,  and  in  some  states  a  juster  distribution 
of  representation.     In  theory,  the  houses  of  legislation  should 
everywhere  have  been  in  proportion     ^  population;  and  for 
this  end  a  census  was  to  be  taken  at  fixed  times  in  Peunsyl- 
vania  and  New  York;  but  in  most  of  the  states  old  inequali- 
ties were  continued,  and  even  new  ones  introduced.     In  New 
England,  the  several  towns  had  from  the  first  enjoyed  the 
pnvilege  of  representation,  and  this  custom  was  retained;  in 
\^irgiiiia,  the  counties  and  boroughs  in  the  low  country  secured 
an  undue  share  of  the  members  of  the  assembly;  the  planters 
of  Maryland  set  a  most  unequal  limit  to  the  representation  of 
the  city  of  Baltimore.     In   South  Carolina,  Charleston  was 
a  lowed  for  seven  years  to  send  thirty  members  to  the  assem- 
bly,  and  the  parishes  near  the  sea  took  almost  a  monopoly  of 
political  power ;  after  that  period  representatives  were  to  bo 
proportioned  according  to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants  and 


fV 


116     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  cii.  ix. 


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to  the  taxable  property  in  the  several  districts.  To  the  assem- 
bly was  reserved  the  power  of  originating  taxes.  In  Georgia, 
the  delegates  to  the  continental  congress  had  a  right  to  sit, 
debate,  and  vote  in  its  honse  of  assembly,  of  which  they  were 
deemed  to  be  a  part.  In  South  Carolina  the  assembly  was 
chosen  for  two  years,  everywhere  else  for  but  one. 

Franklin  approved  the  decision  of  the  framers  of  the  con- 
stitution of  Pennsylvania  to  repose  all  '2|>\.-latlve  power  in  one 
chamber.     This  evil  precedent  was  folio  ■  i  in  Georgia.    From 
all  the  experience  of  former  republics,  John  Adams  argued 
for  a  legislature  with  two  branches.     The  Americans  of  that 
day  were  accustomed  almost  from  the  beginning  to  a  double 
legislative  body,  and  eleven  of  the  thirteen  states  adhered  to 
the  ancient  usage.     The  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  legislature, 
whether  called  a  senate,  or  legislative  council,  or  board  of  as- 
sistants, was  less  numerous  than  the  house  of  representatives. 
In  the  permanent  constitutions  of  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire,  the  proportion  of  public  taxes  paid  by  a  district  was 
regarded  in  the  assignment  of  its  senatorial  number ;  in  New 
York  and  North  Carolina,  the  senate  was  elected  by  a  narrower 
constituency  than  the  assembly.     In  six  of  the  eleven  states  the 
senate  was  chosen  annually ;  but  the  period  of  service  in  South 
Carolina  embraced  two  years,  in  Delaware  three,  in  New  York 
and  Virginia  four,  in  Maryland  five.     To  increase  the  dignity 
and  fixedness  of  the  body,  Virginia  and  New  York  gave  it 
permanence  by  renewing  one  fourth,  Delaware  one  third,  of 
its  members  annually.     Maryland  prescribed  a  double  election 
for  its  senate.     Once  in  five  years  the  several  counties,  the  city 
of  Annapolis,  and  Baltimore  town,  chose,  viva  voce,  their  re- 
spective delegates  to  an  electoral  body,  each  member  of  which 
was  "  to  have  in  the  state  real  or  personal  property  above  the 
value  of  five  hundred  pounds  current  money."     These  electors 
were  to  elect  by  ballot  "  six  out  of  the  gentlemen  residents  of 
the  eastern  shore,"  and  "  nine  out  of  the  gentlemen  residents 
of  the  western  shore,"  of  the  Chesapeake  bay;   the  fifteen 
"  gentlemen  "  thus  chosen  constituted  the  quinquennial  senate 
of  Maryland,  and  themselves  filled  up  jiny  vacancy  that  might 
occur  in  their  number  during  their  term  of  five  years. 

The  governor  or  president  in  the  four  New  England  states 


1770-1783.      THE   CON-STITUTIOXS  OF  THE  STATES. 


117 


was  chosen  directly  by  all  the  primary  electors ;  in  New  York, 
by  the  freeholders  who  possessed  a  freehold  worth  not  less 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars;  in  Georgia,  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people ;  in  Pennsylvania,  by  the  joint  vote  of 
the  council  and  assembly,  who  were  confined  in  their  selection 
to  the  members  of  the  council ;  in  the  other  six  states,  by  the 
joint  ballot  of  the  two  liranchos  of  the  legislature. 

Except  in  Peniisjxvania,  a  small  property  qualification  was 
usually  required  of  a  representative,  more  of  a  senator,  still  more 
of  a  governor.  New  York  required  only  that  its  governor 
should  be  a  freeholder ;  Massachusetts,  that  his  freehold  should 
be  of  tlie  value  of  about  thirty-three  hundred  dollars ;  New 
Hampshire  required  but  half  as  much ;  South  Carolina,  that 
his  plantation  or  freehold,  counting  the  slaves  "settled"  upon 
it,  should  1)6  of  the  value  of  forty-two  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars  in  currency.  In  New  York  and  Delaware,  the  gover- 
nor was  chosen  for  three  years ;  in  South  Carolina,  for  two ; 
in  all  the  rest,  for  only  one.  South  of  New  Jersey,  the  ca- 
pacity of  re-election  was  jealously  restricted ;  in  those  states 
which  were  most  republican  there  was  no  such  restriction ;  in 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island,  a  governor  was 
often  continuously  re-elected. 

The  jealousy  fostered  by  long  conflicts  with  the  crown  led  to 

the  general  refusal  of  a  negative  power  to  the  governor.     The 

thoughtful  men  who  devised  the  constitution  of  N.wYork 

established  the  principle  of  a  conditional  veto ;  a  law  might  be 

negatived,  and  the  veto  was  final,  unless  it  should  be  passed 

agam  by  a  majority  of  two  thirds  of  each  of  the  two  branches  • 

but  they  unwisely  confided  this  negative  power  to  a  council! 

of  which  the  governor  formed  but  one.    Massachusetts  in  1779 

improved  upon  the  precedent,  and  placed  the  conditional  veto 

in  the  hands  of  the  governor  alone.     In  her  provisional  form, 

feoutii  Carolina  clothed  her  executive  chief  with  a  veto  power- 

but  m  the  constitution  of  1778  it  was  abrogated,     ai  all  other 

colonies,  the  governor  either  had  no  share  in  making  laws,  or 

only  a  casting  vote,  or  at  most  a  double  vote  in  the  least  uumer- 

ous  of  the  two  branches. 

Nowhere  had  the  governor  power  to  dissolve  the  legisla- 
ture, or  either  branch  of  it,  and  so  appeal  directly  to  the  peo- 


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118      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  it.  ;  en.  ix. 

plo ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  goveraor,  once  elected,  could 
not  be  removed  during  his  term  of  office  except  by  impeach- 
ment and  conviction. 

In  most  of  the  states  all  important  civil  and  military  offi- 
cers were  elected  by  the  legislature.     The  power  intrusted  to 
a  governor,  wherever  it  was  more  than  a  shadow,  was  still  fur- 
ther restrained  by  an  executive  council,  formed  partly  after 
the  model  of  the  British  privy  council,  and  partly  after  colo- 
nial precedents.     In  the  few  states  in  which  the  governor  had 
the  nomination  of  officers,  particularly  in  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire,  they  could  be  commissioned  only  with  the 
consent  of  council.      In   New  York,  the  appouiting  power, 
when  the  constitution  did  not  direct  otherwise,  was  confided 
to  the  governor  and  a  council  of  four  senators,  elected  by  the 
assembly  from  the  fom-  great  districts  of  the  state ;  and  in  this 
body  the  governor  had  "  a  casting  voice,  but  no  other  vote." 
This  worst  arrangement  of  all,  so  sure  to  promote  faction  and 
intrigue,  was  the  fruit  of  the  deliberate  judgme-  .  of  wise  and 
disinterested  patriots,  in  their  zeal  for  administrative  purity. 
Whatever  sprung  readily  from  the  condition  and  intelligence 
of  the  people  had  enduring  life ;  while  artificial  arrangements, 
like  this  of  the  council  of  appointment  in  New  York,  and  like 
the  senate  of  Maryland,  though  devised  by  earnest  statesmen 
of  careful  education  and  great  endowments,  pined  from  their 
birth  and  soon  died  away. 

The  third  great  branch  of  government  was  in  theory  kept 
distinct  from  the  other  two.  In  Connecticut  and  Ehode  Isl- 
and some  judicial  powers  were  exercised  by  the  governor 
and  assistants ;  the  other  courts  were  constituted  by  the  two 
branches  of  the  legislature.  In  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  the  governor,  with  the  consent  of  council,  selected 
the  judges ;  in  New  York,  the  council  of  appointment ;  but 
for  the  most  part  they  were  chosen  by  the  legislature.  In 
South  Carolina,  Massachusetts,  and  New  Hampshire,  a  judge 
might  be  removed,  as  in  England,  upon  the  address  of  both 
houses  of  the  legislature,  and  this  proved  a  wise  practical 
rule ;  in  New  York  he  must  ivtire  at  the  ago  of  sixty ;  in 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  the  supreme  court  was  chosen 
for  seven  yeai's,  ii    Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  for  but 


1776-1 78r       THE  COXSTITUTIOXS  OF  THE  STATES.  ng 

one ;  in  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina, 
the  tenure  of  the  judicial  office  was  good  behavior  ;  in  Mary- 
land, even  a  conviction  in  a  court  of  law  was  required  before 
removal.  Powers  of  chancery  belonged  to  the  legislature  in 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island ;  in  South  Carolina,  to  the  lieu- 
tenant-governor and  the  privy  council  ;  in  New  Jersey,  the 
governor  and  council  were  the  court  of  appeals  in  the  las't  re- 
sort. The  courts  of  all  the  states  were  open,  without  re"-ard  to 
creed  or  race. 

The  constitution  of  Massachusetts  required  a  system  of  uni- 
versal public  education  as  a  vital  element  of  the  pul)lic  life. 
As  yet,  the  system  was  established  nowhere  else  except  in 
Connecticut.  Pennsylvania  aimed  at  no  more  than  "  to  instruct 
youth  at  low  jirices." 

How  to  secure  discreet  nominations  of  candidates  for  hio-h 
office  was  cared  for  only  in  Connecticut.  There  twenty  men 
were  first  selected  by  the  vote  of  the  people,  and  out  of  these 
twenty  the  people  at  a  second  election  set  apart  twelve  to  be 
the  governor  and  assistants.  This  method  was  warmly  recom- 
mended by  Jay  to  the  constituent  convention  of  New  Yo'-k. 

The  English  system  was  an  arist(icracy,  partly  hereditary, 
partly  elective,  with  a  permanent  executive  head ;  the  Ameri- 
Ciin  system  was  in  idea  an  elective  government  of  the  best. 
Some  of  the  constitutions  required  the  choice  of  persons  "  best 
qualified,"  or  "  persons  of  wisdom,  experience,  and  virtue." 
These  clauses  were  advisory ;  the  suffrage  was  free.  Timid 
statesmen  were  anxious  to  introduce  some  palpable  element 
of  permanence  by  the  manner  of  constructing  a  council  or  a 
senate ;  but  there  was  no  permanence  except  of  the  people. 
The  people,  with  all  its  greatness  and  all  its  imperfections,  had 
perpetual  succession ;  its  waves  of  thought,  following  eternal 
laws,  were  never  still,  flowing  now  with  gentle  vibrations,  now 
in  a  sweeping  flood. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  the  humbler  Protestant  sects 
had  sent  up  the  cry  to  heaven  for  freedom  to  worship  God. 
To  the  panting  for  this  freedom  half  the  American  states  owed 
their  existence,  and  all  but  one  or  two  their  increase  in  free 
population.  The  immense  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  were  Protestant  dissenters  ^  and,  from  end  to 


\l 


120     AMEllIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  OH.  IX. 


end  of  their  continent,  from  the  rivers  of  Maine  and  the  hills 
of  New  Hampshire  to  the  mountain  valleys  of  Tennessee  and 
the  borders  of  Georgia,  one  voice  called  to  the  other,  that 
there  shcnild  be  no  connection  of  the  church  with  the  state,  no 
establisliment  of  any  one  form  of  religion  by  the  civil  power ; 
that  "  all  men  have  a  natiu-al  and  unalienable  right  to  worsliip 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences  and  un- 
derstandings." With  this  great  idea  the  colonies  had  travailed 
for  a  century  and  a  half ;  and  now,  not  as  revolutionaiy,  not 
as  destructive,  but  simi)ly  as  giving  utterance  to  the  thought 
of  the  nation,  the  states  stood  up  in  succession,  in  the  presence 
of  one  another  and  before  God  and  the  world,  to  bear  their 
witness  in  favor  of  restoruig  independence  to  conscience  and 
the  mind. 

In  this  first  promulgation  by  states  of  the  "  creation-right " 
of  mental  freedom,  some  survivals  of  the  old  system  clung  round 
the  new  ;  but  the  victory  was  gained  for  the  collective  Ameri- 
can people.     The  declaration  of  independence  rested  on  "  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  ;  "  in  the  separate  Ameri- 
can constitutions,  New  York,  the  happy  daughter  of  the  ancient 
Netherlands,  true  to  her  lineage,  did,  "  in  the  name  of  "  her 
"good  people,  ordain,  determine,  and  declare  the  free  exer- 
cise of  religious  profession  and  worship,  without  discrimina- 
tion or  preference,  to  all  mankind ; '"  for  the  men  of  this  new 
comnionwealth  felt  themselves  "  required,  by  the  bene/olent 
principles  of  national  liberty,  not  only  to  expel  civil  ty  -anny, 
but  to  guard   against  that  spiritual  oppression  and  intoler- 
ance wherewith  the  bigo  >       ad  ambition  of  weak  and  wicked 
princes  have  scourged  m       ind."     Independent   New  York 
with  even  justice  securec    j  the  Catholic  equal  liberty  of  wor- 
ship and  equal  civil  franchises,  and  almost  alone  had  no  relig- 
ious test  for  office.     Henceforth  no  man  on  her  soil  was  to 
suffer  political  disfrancliisement  for  his  creed. 

The  liberality  of  New  York  was  wide  as  the  world  and  as 
the  human  race.  History  must  ever  declare  that  at  the  mo- 
ment of  her  assertion  of  H1)erty  she  placed  no  constitutional 
disqualification  on  the  free  black.  Even  the  emanci])ated  slave 
gained  with  freedom  equality  before  the  constitution  and  the 
law.     New  York  .placed  restrictions  on  the  suffrage  and  on  eli- 


0 


1770-1783.      THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  STATES.  121 

gibillt.y  to  office;  but  those  restrictions  applied  alike  to  all. 
The  alien  before  naturalization  was  re(iuired  to  renounce  alle- 
giance to  foreign  powers,  alike  ecclesiastical  or  civil. 

The  establishment  of  liberty  of  conscience,  which  bron^'ht 
wath  it  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  was,  in  the  sevS-al 
states,  the  fruit  not  of  philosophy,  but  of  the  love  of  Protestant- 
ism for  "  the  open  book."  Had  the  Americans  wanted  faith, 
they  could  have  founded  nothing.  Let  not  the  philosopher 
hear  with  scorn  that  at  least  seven  of  their  constitutions  estab- 
lished some  sort  of  rehgiojs  test  as  a  qualification  for  office. 
Maryland  and  Massachusetts  required  "  belief  in  the  Christian 
religion  ; "  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  in  "  the  Protestant 
religion  ; "  North  Carolina,  "  in  God,  the  Protestant  religion, 
and  the  divine  authority  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment ; "  Pennsylvania,  «  a  belief  in  God,  the  creator  and  gov- 
ernor of  the  universe,  the  rewarder  of  the  good  and  punisher 
of  the  wicked,"  with  a  further  acknowledging  '■  the  scriptu:  5s 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  given  by  divine  inspira- 
tion ; "  Delaware,  a  profession  of  "  faith  in  God  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  one  God' 
blessed  for  e.ermore." 

These  restrictions  were  but  incidental  reminiscences  of 
ancient  usages  and  dearly  cherished  creeds,  not  vital  elements 
of  the  constitutions ;  and  they  were  opposed  to  the  bent  of  the 
American  mind.      Joseph  Hawley  of  Massachusetts,  having 
been  chosen  a  senator  at  the  first  election  under  its  constitu- 
tion, refused  to  take  his  seat,  because  he  would  not  suffer  the 
state  or  any  one  else  outside  of  the  village  church  of  which  he 
was  a  member  to  inquire  into  his  belief.     Discussions  ensued, 
chiefly  on  the  fun  enfranchisement  of  the  Catholic  and  of  the 
Jew ;  and  the  disfranchisements  were  eliminated  almost  as  soon 
as  their  inconvenience  arrested  attention.     At  first  the  Jew 
was  eligible  to  office  only  in  Phode  Island,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  A^irginia;  the   Catholic,   In  those  states,  ar.d  in 
Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  perhaps 
in  Connecticut.     But  from  the  beginning  the  church  no  longer 
formed  a  part  of  the  state ;  and  religion,  ceasir.g  to  be  a  st^r- 
vant  of  tJie  govemme^it  or  an  instrument  of  dominion,  became 
a  life  in  the  soul.     Public  worship  was  voluntarily  sustained. 


■! 


J,    ,  " '  < 


122     AMERICA  IX  ALLIAXCE   WITH  FRANCE. 


El',  IV. :  cn.  IX. 


I      ! 


Nowhere  was  persecution  for  religious  opinion  so  nearly  at  an 
end  as  in  America,  and  nowhere  Wiis  there  so  religious  a 
people. 

There  wore  not  wanting  tliose  who  cast  a  lingering  look  on 
the  care  of  the  state  for  public  worship.     The  conservative 
convention  of  Maryland  declared  that  "  the  legislature  may  in 
their  discretion  lay  a  general  and  eipial  tax  for  the  sup[)ort  of 
the  Christain  religion,  leaving  to  each  individual  the  appoint- 
ing the  money  collected  from  him  to  the  support  of  any  par- 
ticular place  of  public  wcjrship  or  nunister ; "  but  the  power 
grunted  was  never  exercised.     For  a  time  :Massachusetts  re- 
quired of  towns  or  religious  societies  "the  8ui)port  of  public 
Protestant  teaeliprs  of  piety,  religion,  and  morality"  of  their 
own  election ;  but  as  each  man  chose  his  own  religious  society, 
the  requisition  liad  no  effect  in  large  towns.    In  Connecticut,' 
the  Puritan  worship  was  still  closely  interwoven  with  the  state, 
and  had  moulded  the  manners,  habits,  and  faith  of  the  people ; 
but  the  coinplete  disentanglement  was  gradually  brought  about 
by  inevitable  processes  of  legislation. 

Where  particular  churches  had  received  gifts  or  inheri- 
tances, their  right  to  them  was  respected.     In  ^laryland  and 
South  Carolina,  the  churches,  lands,  and  property  that  had 
belonged  to  the  church  of  England  ^vere  secured  to  that  church 
in  its  new  form ;  in  Virginia,  where  the  church  of  England 
iiad  been  established  as  a  public  institution,  the  disposition  of 
its  glebes  was  assumed  by  the  legislature ;  and,  as  all  denomina- 
tions had  contributed  to  their  acquisition,  they  came  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  property  of  the  state.     Tithes  were  nowhere 
continued ;  and  the  nde  prevailed  that  "  no  man  could  be  com- 
pelled to  maintain  any  ministry  contrary  to  his  own  free  will 
and  consent."     South  Carolina,  in  her  legislation  on  religion, 
attempted  to  separate  herself  from  the  system  of  the  other 
states ;  she  alone  appointed  a  test  for  the  voter,  and  made  this 
declaration:    "The   Christian  Protestant    religion  is  hereby 
constituted  and  declared  to  be  the  established  religion  of  this 
state.  ^'     But  the  condition  of  society  was  stronger  than  the 
constitution,  and  this  declaration  proved  but  the  shadow  of  a 
system  that  was  vanishing.     In  1778,  the  test  oath  and  the  par- 
taking of  tae  communion  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Epis- 


1770-1783.      THE  COXSTITCTIONS   OF  THE  STATES. 


123 


copal  cburcb  ceased  to  be  required  as  conditions  for  bolding 
office. 

Tbe  separation  of  tbe  cburcli  and  tbe  state  by  tbe  estab- 
lisliuient  of  religious  equality  was  followed  by  tbe  wonderful 
result  tbat  it  wa^  approved  of  every  wbere,  always,  and  by  all. 
Tbe  old  Anglican  cbiircb,  wbicb  became  known  as  tl,o  Protest- 
tant  Epii^copal,  wisbed  to  preserve  its  endowments  and  niigbt 
complain  of  tbeir  impainnent ;  but  it  preferred  ever  after" to 
take  care  of  itself,  and  was  glad  to  sbare  in  tbat  equality  wbich 
dispelled  tbe  dread  of  episcopal  tyranny,  and  left  it  free  to  per- 
fect its  organization  according  to  its  own  desires.  Tbe  H  >an 
Catbolic  eagerly  accepted  in  America  bis  place  as  an  equ.V  vvh 
Protestants,  and  found  contentment  and  bope  in  bis  nev/  ia- 
tions.  Tbe  rigid  Presbyterians  in  America  supported  religious 
freedom ;  tnie  to  tbe  spirit  of  tbe  great  Englisb  dissenter  wbo 
bated  all  laws 

To  strotcli  tbe  conscience,  and  to  bind 
Tbe  native  freedom  of  tbe  mind. 
In  Virginia,  wbere  alone  tbere  was  an  arduous  sti-uggle  in  tbe 
legislature,  tbe  presbytery  of  Hanover  demanded  tbe  disestab- 
bsbment  of  tbe  Anglican  cburcb  and  tbe  civil  equality  of  every 
denomination ;  it  was  supported  by  tbe  voices  of  Baptists  and 
Quakers  and  all  tbe  sects  tbat  bad  sprung  from  tbe  people ;  and, 
after  a  contest  of  eigbt  weeks,  tbe  measure  was  carried,  by  tbe 
activity  of  Jefferson,  in  an  assembly  of  wbicb  tbe  majority  were 
Protestant  Ejiiscopalians.     Nor  was  tbis  demand  by  Presby- 
terians for  equality  confined  to  Virginia,  wbere  tbey  were  in  a 
mmonty ;  it  was  from  AVitberspoon  of  New  Jersey  tbat  Madi- 
son nnbibed  tbe  lesson  of  perfect  freedom  in  matters  of  con- 
science.    Wben  tlie  constitution  of  tbat  state  was  framed  by  a 
convention  composed  cbiefly  of  Presbyterians,  tbey  establisbea 
perfect  liberty  of  conscience,  ^Wtbout  tbe  blemisb  of  a  test 
Free-tbinkers  miglit  bave  been   content  witb  toleration,  but 
religious  conviction  would  accept  notbing  less  tban  equality. 
Ibe  more  profound  was  faitb,  tbe  more  it  scorned  to  admit 
a  connection  witb   tbe  state;  for,   sucb  a   com  oction  beino- 
inberently  vicious,  tbe  state  migbt  more  readily  form  an  alb^ 
ance  witb  error  tban  witb  trutb,  witb  despotism  over  mind 
tban  witb  freedum.     Tbe  determination  to  leave  trutb  to  ber 

TOI..    V 10 


r  i| 


lUt 


iljj 

i        .; 

ml 


124      AMERICA    IN   ALIJANCE   WITH  FRANCE,     ei-.  iv. ;  on.  ix. 


m 


i)i 


Mi  i 


III 


ml 


I    I 


own  8tr('nn;th,  and  religions  worisliij)  to  tlio  conHcicnco  and 
volnntaiy  act  of  tho  vvorHliippcr,  was  tho  natural  outllow  of 
roliii'lons  fcolijijr. 

Tlu!  constitution  of  Ooorgia  declared  that  "c-;:<atcs  shall  not 
be  entailed,  and,  when  a  person  dies  intestate,  his  or  lier  estate 
shall  he  dividcid  e([ually  among  the  children."     The  same  prin- 
ciple prevailed  essentially  in  other  states,  in  conformity  to  their 
laws  ami  their  maimers.      But  in  Virginia  a  system  of  entails, 
enforced  with  a  rigor  unknown  in  the  old  country,  had  tended 
to  niakc!  the  possession  of  great  estates,  esi)ecially  to  the  east  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  the  privilege  of  the  Hrst-horn.     In  England  the 
courts  of  law  permitted  entails  to  he  docked  by  fine  and  re- 
covery;  in  17(i:>,  Virginia  prohibited  all  snch  imiovations,  and 
the  tenure   ,ould  be  changed  by  nothing  less  than  a  special 
statute.     In  1727  it  waa  further  enacted  that  slaves  might  be 
attached  to  the  soil,  ami  be  entailed  with  it.     These  measures 
rivi'ted    a    hereditary  aristocracy,  founded  not  on  learning  or 
talent  or  moral  wt»rth  or  ])ublic  service,  but  on  the  i)()ssession  of 
land  and  slaves.     It  was  to  i)erfect  the  r(>i)ublicaii  institutions  of 
Virginia  by  breaking  down  this  aristocracy  that  Jefferson  was 
summoned  from  the  national  congress  to  the  as8cnd)ly  of  his 
native  state.     On  the  twelftli  of  October  1770,  he  ol)tained 
leave  to  bi-ing  in  a  bill  for  the  abolishment  of  entails;  and, 
against   tlie   opposition   (.f   Edmund  Pendleton  who  was   no 
friend  to  innovations,  all  donees  in  tail,  by  the  act  of  this  iirst 
republican  legislatnre  of  Virginia,  were  vested  with  the  ab- 
solute domiiuon  of  the  ]m)perty  entailed. 

To  complete  the  reiorm,  it  wius  necessary  to  change  tho 
rules  of  descent,  so  that  the  lands  of  an  intestate  might  be  di- 
vided equally  among  liis  representatives;  and  this  was  eilect- 
ed  through  a  committee  of  which  Jelferson,  Pendleton,  and 
Wythe  Avcre  the  active  mend)ers,  and  which  was  charged  with 
tho  revision  of  the  connnon  law,  tlie  British  statutes  still  valid 
in  the  state,  and  the  criminal  statutes  of  Virginia.  The  new 
law  of  desccnit  was  the  work  of  Jelferson  ;  and  the  candid  his- 
torian of  ^'irginia,  ajiproves  the  graceful  synnnetry  of  the  act 
which  abolished  ])rimogeniture,  and  directed  i)roperty  into  "  tho 
chamiels  which  the  head  and  heart  of  every  sane  man  would 
be  prone  to  choose.'' 


'  h 


i 


f 


1776-1783.      THE  CONSTITUTIONS  OF  TUE  STATES. 


125 


In  the  low  country  of  Yirginia,  and  of  the  states  next  south 
of  it,  tlie  majority  of  the  inbabitiints  were  bondmen  of  another 
race,  except  where  niodilied  by  nxixture.  The  course  of  legis- 
lation on  their  condition  will  be  narrated  elsewhere. 

Provision  was  made  for  reforming  the  constitutions  which 
were  now  established.  The  greatest  obstacles  were  thrown  in 
the  way  of  change  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the  attempt  could 
be  made  only  once  in  seven  years  by  the  election  of  a  council 
of  censors ;  the  fewest  in  South  Carolina,  where  the  majority 
of  a  legislature  expressly  assumed  to  itself  and  its  successors 
original,  independent,  and  final  constituent  power. 

The  J3ritish  parliament,  in  its  bill  of  rights,  had  only  summed 
up  the  liberties  that  Englishmen  in  the  lapse  of  centuries  had 
ac(iuired ;  the  Americans  opened  their  career  of  independence 
by  a  declaration  of  the  self-evident  rights  of  man ;  and  this, 
begun  by  Virginia,  was  repeated,  with  variations,  in  every 
constitution  formed  after  independence,  excejit  that  of  South 
Carolina. 

America  neither  separated  abruptly  from  the  past,  nor 
clung  to  its  decaying  forms.  The  principles  that  gave  life  to 
the  new  institutions  did  not  compel  a  sudden  change  of  social 
or  political  relations;  but  they  were  im  a  light  shimng  more 
and  more  uito  the  darkness.  In  a  country  which  enjoyed  free- 
dom of  conscience,  of  iuquu-y,  of  speech,  of  the  press,  and  of 
govermnent,  the  universal  intuitioj>.  of  truth  promised  the 
never-eudhig  progress  of  reform. 


!1 


I 


II 


« 


1:11 


r 


126 


AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE.    ep.it.;oh.x. 


Hii 


H  ,  j 


I 


CHAPTER  X. 

PUEPAEATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN   OF    1777.      FRANCE,    HOL- 
LAND,   SPAIN,   AND   ENGLAND. 

D'^^cEMBER  1776-May  1777. 

While  Wasliington  was  toiling  without    reward,  a  rival 
in  Europe  aspired  to  supersede  him.     The  Count  de  Broglie, 
disclaiming  the  ambition  of  becoming  the  sovereign  of  the 
United  States,  insinuated  his  Avillingness  to  be  for  a  period  of 
years  its  William  of  Orange,  provided  he  could  be  assured  of 
a  large  grant  of  money  before  embarkation,  an  ample  revenue 
the  highest  military  rank,  the  direction  of  foreign  relations 
durmg  his  command,  and  a  princely  annuity  for  life  after  his 
return.     The  offer  was  to  have  been  made  through  Kalb,  the 
former  emissary  of  Choiseul  in  the  British  colonies :  the  ac- 
knowledged poverty  of  the  new  republic  scattered  the  great 
mans  short-lived  dream;  but  Kalb,  though  in  his  fifty-sixth 
year,  affluent,  and  happy  in  his  wife  and  children,  remained 
true  to  an  engagement  which,  in  company  with  Lafayette,  he 
had  taken  with  Deane  to  serve  as  a  major-general  in  the  insur- 
gent army.     When  the  American  commissioner  told  Lafayette 
plainly  that  the  credit  of  his  government  was  too  low  to  fur- 
nish the  volunteers  a  transport,  "Then,"  said  the  young  man, 
'I  will  purchase  one  myself;"  and  he  bought  and  freighted 
the  Victory,  which  was  to  carry  him,  the  veteran  Kalb,  and 
twelve  other  French  officers  to  Imeiica.     During  the  weeks 
of  preparation  he  made  a  visit  to  England.     At  the  age  of 
mneteeu  it  seemed  to  him  pardonable  to  be  presented  to  the 
king  against  wliom  he  was  going  to  fight;  but  he  declined 
the  king's  offer  of  leave  to  inspect  the  British  navy  yards. 


I 


1770.      PREPARATIOXS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.      127 

On  the  seventh  of  December,  Franklin  reached  Nantes, 
after  a  svomij  jjassage  of  thirty  days  in  the  Keprisal,  during 
which  the  ship  had  been  chased  by  British  cruisers,  and  had 
taken  two  British  brigantines.    As  no  notice  of  his  mission 
had  preceded  him,  the  story  was  spread   in  England  that 
he  was  a  fugitive  for  safety.     "  I  never  will  beheve,"  said 
Edmund  Burke,  "that  he  is  going  to  conclude  a  long  life, 
which  has  brightened  every  hour  it  has  continued,  with  so 
foul  and  dishonorable  a  flight."    All  Europe  ii^  n-ed  that  a 
man  of  his  years  and  great  name  would  not  have  crossed  the 
Atlantic  but  in  the  assured  hope  of  happy  results.     The  say- 
ings that  fell   from  him  at  Xantes  ran  through  Paris  and 
France ;  and  on  his  word  the  nation  eagerly  credited  what  it 
wished  to  And   true,  that  not  twenty  successful  campaigns 
could  reduce  the  Americans;  that  they  would  be  forever  an 
mdependent  state,  and  the  natural  ally  of  France. 

The  British  ambassador  demanded  the  restoration  of  the 
prizes  brought  in  to  Xantes  with  Franklin,  arguing  that  no 
prize  can  be  a  lawful  one  unless  made  under  the  authority  of 
some  power,  whose  existence  has  been  acknowledged  by  other 
powers,  and  evidenced  by  treaties  and  alliances.     "  You  can- 
not expect  us,"  rephed  Yergennes,  "  to  take  upon  our  shoul- 
ders tue  burden  of  your  wai-;  every  wise  nation  places  its 
chief  security  in  its  own  vigilance."     Stormont  complained 
that  French  officers  were  embarking  for  America      "The 
French  nation,"  replied  Yergennes,  "  has  a  turn  for  adven- 
ture.     The  ambassador  reported  how  little  his  remonstrances 
were  heeded.     To  strike  the  nation's  rival,  covertly  or  openly 
was  the  sentiment  of  nearly  every  Frenchman  except  the  king 
Artois,  the  king's  second  brother,  avowed  his  good-will  for  the 
Americans,  and  longed  for  a  war  with  England.     "  We  shall 
be  sure  to  have  it,"  said  his  younger  brother. 

Franklin  reached  Paris  on  the  twenty-first  of  December 
His  fame  as  a  philosopher,  his  unfailing  good-luiinor,  the  dig- 
nity and  ease  of  his  manners,  the  plainness  of  his  dress,  hk 
habit  of  wearing  his  straight,  thin,  gray  hair  without  powder, 
contrary  to  the  fashion  of  that  day  in  France,  acted  as  a  spell! 
Ihe  venerable  impersonation  of  the  republics  of  antiquity 
seemed  to  have  come  to  accept  the  homage  of  the  gay  capital. 


I 


=  'MS 


■■H 


.     :i|ltl 

11 'lit 
i*  !i!tli 


if'l 


n.L 


128       AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  on.  X. 


!)'  I 


'*, 


Tlie  national  cry  was  that  the  cause  of  the  "  insurgents,"  for 
so  they  were  called,  and  never  rebels,  was  the  cause  of  all 
mankind ;  that  tliey  wore  fighting  for  the  liberty  of  France 
in  defending  their  own.  Some  of  tlie  American  constitutions, 
separating  the  state  from  the  church  and  establishing  freedom 
of  worshi]i,  were  translated,  and  read  with  rapture.  The 
friends  of  Choiseul  clamored  that  France  should  use  the  hai)py 
moment  to  take  a  lasting  revenge  on  her  haughty  enemy. 

Franklin  scattered  every  discouragement  by  the  hopeful- 
ness with  which  lie  spoke  oi"  the  United  States.  Charles  Fox, 
being  in  Paris,  sought  his  intimacy.  As  the  aged  and  the 
youthful  statesmen  conversed  togetlier  on  the  subject  of  the 
M-ar,  Franklin  called  to  mind  the  vain  efforts  of  Christendom, 
in  the  days  of  the  crusades,  to  gain  possession  of  the  Holy 
Land ;  and  foretold  that,  "  in  like  manner,  while  Great  Britain 
might  carry  ruin  and  destmction  into  America,  its  best  blood 
and  its  treasure  would  be  squandered  and  thrown  away  to  no 
manner  of  purpose." 

In  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  the  three  American 
commissioners  waited  by  appointment  on  Vergennes.  lie  as- 
sured them  protection,  received  the  plan  of  congress  for  a 
treaty  with  France,  and  spoke  freely  to  them  of  the  attach- 
ment of  the  French  nation  to  their  cause.  Prizes  taken  under 
the  American  fliig  might  be  brought  into  French  ports,  with 
such  precautions  as  would  invalidate  complaints  from  Great 
Britain.  Of  Franklin  he  requested  a  paper  on  the  condition  of 
America.  Their  future  intercourse  he  desired  might  be  most 
strictly  secret,  without  the  intervention  of  any  third  person ; 
but,  as  France  and  Spain  were  in  accord,  the  commissioners 
might  conununicate  freely  with  the  Spanish  ambassador. 

The  Count  do  Aranda,  then  fifty-eight  yeare  old,  was  of  the 
grandees  df  Aragon  ;  by  nature  proud,  impetuous,  restless,  and 
obstinate ;  of  undisciplined  temper  and  ungenial  mannere.  A 
soldier  in  early  life,  he  had  been  attracted  to  Prussia  by  the 
fame  of  Frederic ;  he  admired  Yoltairo,  Alembert,  and  Rous- 
seau ;  and  in  France  he  was  honored  for  his  superiority  to  su- 
perstition. His  haughty  self-dependence  and  force  of  will 
fitted  him  for  tlie  service  of  Charles  III.  in  driving  the  Jesuits 
from  Spain.     As  an  administrative  reformer,  he  began  too 


i! 


t  I 


1777.     PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       129 

vehemently ;  thwarted  by  tlio  stiff  formalities  of  officiala  and 
the  jealousies  of  the  clerical  party,  he  withdrew  from  court 
to  fill  the  embiisrty  at  Paris.  Tliere  lie  soon  became  eager  to 
resume  active  employment.  Devoted  to  the  French  alliance, 
he  longed  to  see  France  and  S[)aiu  inflict  a  nioj-tal  blow  on 
the  power  of  England  ;  but  he  was  a  daring  schemer  and  bad 
calculator ;  and,  on  much  of  the  business  of  Spain  wiih  France 
relating  to  America,  he  was  not  consulted.  On  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  December  1770,  and  again  six  days  later,  he  held 
secret  interviews  with  the  American  commissioners.  He  could 
only  promise  American  privateers  and  their  prizes  the  security 
in  Spanish  ports  which  they  found  in  those  of  France- 

On  the  lifth  of  January  the  commissioners  presented  to 
Vergcnnes  a  written  request  for  eight  ships  of  the  line,  ammu- 
nition, brass  field-pieces,  and  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  mus- 
kets. Their  reasoning  wiis  addressed  alike  to  France  and 
Spain  r  "  The  interest  of  the  three  nations  is  the  same ;  the 
opportunity  now  presents  itself  of  securing  a  commerce  which 
in  time  will  bo  immense ;  delay  may  be  attended  with  fatal 
consequences,"  At  Versailles  the  petition  was  bro\*ght  be- 
fore the  king,  in  the  presence  of  Maurepas;  and,  on  the 
thirteenth,  Conrad  Alexander  (ierard,  one  of  the  ablest  secre- 
taries of  Vergennes,  meeting  the  commissioners  by  night,  at  a 
private  house  in  Paris,  read  to  them  the  careful  answer  which 
had  received  the  royal  sanction.  The  kmg  could  as  yet  fur- 
nish the  Americans  neither  ships  nor  convoys.  "  Time  and 
events  must  be  waited  for,  and  provision  made  to  profit  by 
them.  The  United  Provinces,"  so  the  new  republic  was  styled, 
"may  be  assured  that  neither  France  nor  Spain  will  make 
them  any  overture  that  can  in  the  least  interfere  with  their 
essential  interests.  The  commercial  facilities  afforded  in  the 
l)orts  of  Franco  and  Sjjain,  and  the  tacit  diversion  of  the  two 
powers  whose  expensive  armaments  oblige  England  to  divide 
her  efforts,  manifest  the  interest  of  the  two  crowns  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Americans.  The  king  will  not  incommode  them 
in  deriving  resources  from  the  conunerce  of  his  kingdom,  con- 
fidorit  that  they  will  conform  tu  the  nifes  prescribed  by  the 
precise  and  rigorous  meaning  of  existing  treaties,  of  which  the 
twu  niouarchs  are  exact  observers.     Llnable  to  enter  into  the 


w 


m 


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1 

f 

I 

•  i 

i 

'^H 

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I   ! 


130       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH   FRANCE,     kp.  ly. ;  cii.  x. 

details  of  their  sni)])]ies,  ho  Avill  mark  to  them  liis  benevolence 
and  good-will  by  destining  for  them  secret  succors  which  will 
extend  their  credit  and  their  imrchases." 

These  promises  were  faithfully  kept.     ILilf  a  million  of 
hvres  was  to   be  paid  to  the  banker  of  the  commissioners 
quarterly,  the  first  instalment  on  the  sixteenth.     After  many 
ostensible  hindrances,  the  Seine,  the  Amphitrite,  and  the  Mer- 
cury, laden  with  warhke  stores  by  Deane  and  Beaumarchais, 
were  allowed  to  go  to  sea.     Of  these,  the  first  was  captured 
l)y  the  British;  the  other  two  reached  America  seasonably  for 
the  summer  campaign.     The  commissioners  were  further  en- 
eom-aged  to  contract  with  the  farmers-general  to  furnish  fifty- 
six  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco ;  and  on  this  contract  they 
received  an  advance  of  a  million  livres. 

To   France   the   Jh-itish   ministry  sent   courteous  remon- 
strances ;  toAvard  Holland  they  were  overbearing.     The  British 
adimral  at  the  leeward  islands  was  ordered  to  station  proper 
cmisers  off   the  harbor  of   St.  Eustatius,  with   directions  to 
tlieir  commanders  to  seai-ch  all  Dutch  ships  goin-  into  or 
out  of  it,  and  to  send  such  of  them  as  should  li^rve  arms 
ammunition,  clothing,  or  materials  for  clothing  on  board  into 
some  of  his  majesty's  ports,  to  be  detained  until  further  orders." 
Ihe  king  "perused,  with  equal  surprise  and  indignation,"  the 
papers  which   proved  that  the   principal   fort   on  the  islan<I 
liad  returned  the  salute  of  an  American  brigantine,  and  that 
tJie  governor  had  had  "the  insolence  and  folly"  to  say:  "I 
am  far  from  betraying  any  partiality  between' Great  Britain 
and  her  North  American  colonies."     The  British  ambassador 
at  tJie  Hague,  following  his  instructions,  demanded  of  their 
high  mightinesses  the  disavowal  of  the  salute  and  the  recall 
ot  the  governor:   "till   this  satisfaction  is  given,  they  must 
not  expect  that  his  majesty  will  suffer  himself  to  be  amused 
by  simple  assurances,  or  that  he  will  hesitate  for  an  instant 
to  take  the  measures  that  he  shall  think  due   to   the   inter- 
ests and  dignity  of  his  crown."     This  language  of  contempt 
-nd  menace  incensed  all  Holland,  especially  tlie  city  of  Am- 
sterdam ;  and   a  just   resentment  infiuenced  the  decision   of 
the  states  and  of  the  prince  of  Orange.     Van  de  Graaf,  the 
governor,  who  was  the  first  foreign  official  to  salute  the  Amcri- 


"I 


1777.     rKErARATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       131 

can  flag  with  its  thirteen  stripes,  was  recalled ;  but  the  states 
returned  tlie  paper  of  Yorke,  and  the  Dutch  minister  in  Lon- 
don coniiilained  directly  to  the  king  of  "  the  menacing  tone 
of  the  memorial,  which  appeared  to  their  high  mightinesses 
too  remote  from  that  which  is  usual,  and  which  ought  to  be 
usual,  between  sovereigns  and  independent  powers."  As  the 
result,  the  states  demanded  a  number  of  anned  ships  to  be  in 
readiness ;  and  one  step  was  taken  toward  involving  the  United 
Provinces  in  the  war. 

The  measures  sanctioned  by  the  king  of  France  were  a  war 
in  disguise  against  England ;  but  he  professed  to  l)e  unequivo- 
cally for  peace.  He  never  voluntarily  expressed  sympathy 
with  America;  and  he  heard  the  praises  of  Franklin  with 
petulance.  It  was  tiie  public  ojunion  of  France  which  swayed 
the  cabinet  to  assist  the  young  republic.  Beaumarchais,  the 
author  of  "  Figaro,"  with  profuse  offers  to  Maurepas  of  devoted 
service,  and  a  wish  to  make  his  administration  honored  by 
all  the  peoples  of  the  M'orid,  on  the  thirtieth  of  March  be- 
sought him  to  overcome  his  own  hesitation  and  the  scruples  of 
the  king,  in  these  words : 

"  Listen  to  me,  I  pray  you.  I  fear,  above  all,  that  you 
underrate  the  empire  which  your  age  and  your  Masdom  give 
you  over  a  young  prince  whose  politics  are  still  in  the  cradle. 
You  forget  that  this  soul,  fresh  and  firm  as  it  may  be,  has 
many  times  been  brought  back  from  its  first  declared  purpose. 
You  forget  that  as  daui^hin  Louis  XVI.  had  an  invincible  dis- 
like to  the  old  magistracy,  and  that  their  recall  honored  the 
first  six  months  of  his  reign.  You  forget  that  he  had  sworn 
never  to  be  inoculated,  and  that  eight  days  after  the  oath  he 
had  the  vims  in  his  arm.  I  shall  never  have  a  day  of  true  hap- 
piness if  your  administration  closes  without  accomplishing  the 
three  grandest  objects  which  can  make  it  illustrious :  the  abase- 
ment of  the  English  by  the  union  of  America  and  France ;  the 
re-establishment  of  the  finances ;  and  the  concession  of  civil 
existence  to  the  Protestants  of  the  kingdom  by  a  law  which 
shall  blend  them  with  all  other  subjects  of  the  king.  These 
three  ol)jects  are  to-day  in  your  hands.  What  suc'eesses  can 
more  beautifully  crown  yoiu-  noble  career  ?  After  them  there 
Could  be  no  death." 


I  i 


132       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.     ,:,..  ,v. ;  on.  x. 

The  disfraiicliiKeinent  of  ProteHtunts  already  hca^an  to  bo 
inoditied:  tlio  office  of  eomptroller-^renorul,  of  which  the  in- 
ciunbeiit  was  re(iuired  to  take  an  oatli  to  support  the  Catholic 
reh^rmii,  ^as  abolished  ;  and,  on  the  second  of  July,  the  (Jalvin- 
1st  Necker,  a  rich  Parisian  banker,  by  birth  a  re])ublican  of 
(Toneva,  the  defender  of  the  protective  system  against  Turgot, 
after  a  novitiate  iw  an  assistant,  waa  created  dii-ector-genoral  of 
the  finances,  but  without  a  seat  in  the  cabinet.  Tbe  kin-^  con- 
sented  because  he  was  t.^ld  that  the  welfare  of  France  requu-ed 
the  appon.tnuint;  INFaurepas  was  pleased,  for  he  feared  no 
rivalry  from  a  Protestant  alien. 

The  king  "would  break  out  into  a  ptussion  whenever  he 
hoard  of  help  furnished  to  the  Americans,"  but  he  could  not 
suppress  the  enthusiasm  of  the  French  nation.     After  a  stay 
of  thrc-e  wcc>ks  (m  the  north  side  of  the  channel,  Lafayette, 
with  Kalb  as  his  companion,  travelled  from  Paris  by  way  of 
nordcaux  to  the  Spanish  port  of  Los  Pasages.     There  he  re- 
ceived the  order  of  the  king  to  give  up  his  expedition ;  but, 
after  some  vacillation  and  a  run  to  Bordeaux  and  bac^k,  he 
l.rave<l  the  or,h>r,  and,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  April,  embarked 
for  America.     The  English  lay  in  wait  for  him.     To  his  wife 
he  wrote  while  at  sea :   "  From  love  to  me  become  a  good 
American;  the  welfare  of  America  is  closely  bound  up  with 
the  welfare  of  all  mankind ;  it  is  about  to  become  the  safe 
asylum  of  virtue,  tolerance,  equality,  and  peaceful  liberty." 
Ihe  quecvn  of  France  applauded  his  heroism;  public  opinion 
extolled  'his  strong  enthusi;ism  in  a  good  cause;"  the  indif- 
ferent  spoke  of  his  conduct  as  "  a  brilliant  folly."     "  The  same 
tolly     said  \ergennes,  "has  turned  the  heads  of  our  younff 
people."  •'       ^ 

lie  was  followed  by  (^vs^mir  Pulaski,  a  Polish  nobleman, 
illustrious  for  h.s  virtues  and  misfortunes.  In  the  Avar  for  the 
independence  of  his  native  land  he  lost  his  father  and  his 
hrotlu'i-s.  After  his  attemjit  to  carry  off  the  king  of  Poland 
Jns  property  was  confiscated,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  outlawry 
ami  death.  ITe  was  living  in  exile  at  Marseilles,  in  the  utmost 
destitution,  under  an  a.lopted  name,  when,  through  Tiulhi^re, 
the  historian  of  Poland,  Yergennes  paid  his  debts  and  recom- 
mended hnn  to  Franklin,  wlio  g:.ve  him  a  conveyance  to  the 


% 


1777.     PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       133 

United  States,  and  explained  to  conn^rcsa  how  much  he  had 
done  for  tlic  freedom  of  Poland.  Htormont  called  him  "an 
assassin,"  as  he  had  called  the  American  deputies  malefactors 
that  deserved  the  gallows. 

In  April  and  May,  Joseph  IT.  of  Austria  passed  six  weeks 
at  Taris,  in  the  hope  of  winning  the  consent  of  France  to  his 
inheriting  Bavaria.  In  conversation  he  was  either  silent  on 
American  alTairs,  or  took  the  side  which  was  very  impopular 
in  the  French  capital,  excusing  himself  to  the  duchess  of 
Eourbon  hy  saying :  "I  am  a  king  by  trade;"  nor  would  ho 
permit  a  visit  fi-om  Franklin  and  Deane,  or  even  consent  to 
meet  th(>m  in  his  walks ;  though  from  the  Abbe  Niccoli,  the 
Tuscan  minister,  who  was  a  zealous  abettor  of  the  insurgents, 
he  received  a  paper  justifying  their  conduct  and  explaining 
their  resources. 

Ships  were  continually  leaving  the  ports  of  France  for  the 
United  States,  laden  with  all  that  they  most  needed,  and 
American  trading-vessels  were  received  and  protected.  When 
Stormont  roTuonstrated,  a  ship  bound  for  America  would  be 
stopped,  and,  if  warlike  stores  were  found  on  board,  would  be 
compelled  to  unload  them ;  but  presently  the  ship  would  take 
in  its  cargo  and  set  sail,  and  tI:o  ever-renewed  complaints  of 
the  English  ambassador  would  be  put  aside  by  the  quiet  ear- 
nestness of  Yergennes  and  the  polished  levity  of  Maurepas. 

The  Repi-isal,  after  replenishing  its  stores  at  Nantes,  still  ' 
cniiscd  off  the  French  coast,  and  its  five  new  prizes,  one  of 
which  was  the  royal  packet  between  Lisbon  and  Falmouth, 
were  unmoored  in  the  harl)or  of  L'Orient.  Stormont  humed 
to  Yergennes  to  demand  that  the  captive  ships,  with  their 
crews  and  cargoes,  should  be  delivered  up.  "  You  come  too 
late,"  said  Yergennes ;  "  orders  have  already  been  sent  that  the 
American  ship  and  her  prizes  must  instantly  put  to  sea."  The 
Reprisal  continued  its  depredations  till  midsummer,  when  it 
was  caught  by  the  British ;  but,  before  its  capture,  two  other 
privateers  were  suffered  to  use  French  harbors  as  their  base. 
Stormont  remonstrate'^'  incessantly,  and  sometimes  with  pas- 
sion ;  but  the  English  ministers  were  engaged  in  a  desperate 
effort  to  reduce  their  former  colonies  in  one  campaign,  and 
avoided  an  iimnediate  rupture.     I'rance  always  expressed  the 


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13i      AMERICA  IN  ALLIAXOE  WITH  FRANCE.    EP.iv.;on.x. 

pui-pose  to  conform  to  treaties,  and  England  would  never  cnu- 
merate  Oie  treaties  wLicli  she  wished  to  be  considered  as  still 
m  force.     Yergennes,  though  in  the  presence  of  Loi-d  Stor- 
mont  he  incidentally  called  America  a  republic,  did  not  as  yet 
recognise  the  Americans  as  a  belligerent  power;  but,  viewing 
«ie  colonies  as  a  jmrt  of  the  British  dominions,  threw  upon 
England  the  burden  of  maintaining  her  own  municipal  law8 
England  claimed  that  France  should  shut  her  harbors  against 
American  privateers;  and  Yergennes  professed  to  admit  them 
only  when  m  distress,  and  to  drive  tHem  forth  without  delay 
England  msisted  that  no  arms  or  munitions  of  war  should  be 
exported  to  America,  or  to  ports  to  which  Americans  could 
conveniently  repair  for  a  supply;  Yergennes  represented  the 
Americans  and  their  friends  as  escaping  his  vigilance.     Eng- 
land  was  uneasy  at  the  presence  of  American  commissioner 
in  Pans ;  Yergennes  compared  the  house  of  a  minister  to  a 
church  which  any  one  might  enter,  but  with  no  certainty  that 
ins  prayers  would  be  heard.      England  claimed  the  rio-ht  of 
search ;   Yergennes  demurred   to  its  exercise  in   mid-ocean. 
England  seized  and  confiscated  American  property  wherever 
found;  France  held  that  on  the  high  seas  Ameiican  property 
laden  in  French  ships  was  inviolable.     England  delayed  its 
declaration  of  war  from  motives  of  convenience ;  France  knew 
that  war  was  imminent  and  prepared  for  it  with  diligence. 

France  preferred  to  act  in  concert  with  Spain,  which,  by  its 
advanced  position  on  the  Atlantic,  seemed  destined  to  be  the 
great  ocean  power  of  Europe,  and  which,  more  than  any  other 
kingdom,  dreaded  colonial  independence.      One   of  its   own 
poets,  using  the  language  of  imperial  Eome,  had  foretold  the 
discovery  of  the  western  world  ;  its  ships  first  entered  the  har- 
bors of  the  New  Indies,  first  broke  into  the  Pacific,  first  went 
round  the  earth ;  Spanish  cavaliers  exceUed  all  others  as  ex- 
plorers of  unknown  realms,  and,  at  their  own  cost,  conquered 
for  their  sovereigns  almost  a  hemisphere.     After  a  long  period 
of  decline  this  proud  and  earnest  people,  formed  out  of  the 
most  cultivated  races  and  nations— Aryan  and  Semitic,  Iberi- 
ans, Celts,  Phffiniciaus,  Eomans,  Yandals  crossed  with  Slavo- 
nian blood,  Germans,  and  Saracens,  counting  among  its  great 
men  Seneca  and  Trajan,  Averrhoes  and  the  Cid,  Cervantes 


1777.     PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       133 

and  Velasquez,  devout  even  to  bigotry  in  its  laud  of  churches, 
the  most  imaginative  and  poeHc  among  the  nations—was  seen 
to  be  entering  on  a  career  of  improvement.  Rousseau  con- 
templated its  promise  with  extravagant  hope ;  Alembert  pre- 
dicted its  recovery  of  a  high  position  among  the  powers  of  the 
world  ;  Frederic  of  Pnissia  envied  its  sovereign,  for  the  de- 
lights of  its  climate,  and  the  opportunity  offered  to  its  ruler  to 
renew  its  greatness. 

The  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France,  diaries  III.,  who 
in  1777  held  the  sceptre  in  Spain,  was  the  best  of  the  Span- 
ish Bourbons.  The  degeneracy  of  his  immediate  successors  led 
Spanish  historians  to  dwell  on  his  memory  with  affection.  He 
was  of  a  merciful  disposition,  and  meant  well  for  the  land  he 
niled  ;  he  asserted  the  principle  of  the  absolute  and  inviolable 
right  of  a  king  against  the  pope ;  and  in  its  defence  he  had  ex- 
iled the  Jesuits  and  demanded  of  the  pope  the  abolition  of 
their  order.  Yet,  under  the  influence  of  his  confessor,  a  monk 
of  the  worst  type,  he  restored  vitality  to  the  inquisition,  suf- 
fered it  to  publish  the  papal  bull  which  granted  it  unlimited 
jurisd'ction,  and  declared  that  "  he  would  have  delivered  up 
to  its  tribunal  his  own  son."  He  stood  in  need  of  a  powerful 
ally  ;  between  the  peoples  of  France  and  Spain  there  was  no 
affection;  so,  in  August  17G1,  a  family  compact  was  estab- 
lished between  their  kings.  In  forming  this  alliance,  the 
agents  of  the  Spanish  branch  were  Wall,  an  Irish  adventurer, 
and  Grimaldi  from  Italy. 

It  seemed  the  dawn  of  better  days  for  Spain  when,  in 
February  1777,  the  universal  popular  hatred,  quickened  by 
the  shameful  failure  of  the  expedition  against  Algiers,  drove 
Grimaldi  from  the  ministr}^  and  from  the  country.  On  the 
eighteenth  he  was  succeeded  by  Don  Jose  Monifio,  Count  de 
Florida  Blanca.  For  the  first  time  for  more  than  twenty 
years  Spain  obtained  a  ministry  composed  wholly  of  Span- 
iards ;  and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  a  Spanish  policy  began  to  be  formed. 

The  new  minister,  son  of  a  provincial  notary,  had  been 
carefully  educated ;  followang  his  father's  profession,  he  be- 
came one  of  the  ablest  advocates  of  his  day  and  attained  ad- 
ministrative   distinction.     In   March   1772,  he   went  as   am- 


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"  J  ill 


130      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE    WITH   FRANCE.    BP.iy.;on.x. 

bassador  to  Rome,  wliero  by  his  influenco  Cardinal  Ganganclli 
was  elected  pope,  and  the  order  of  the  Jesuits  was  abolished. 
He,  too,  controlled  the  choice  of  (langanelli'a  successor.     Now 
forty-six  years  old,  esteemed  for  strong  good  sense  and  exten- 
sive information,  for  prudence,  personal  probity,  and  honest 
intentions,  he  was  bent  uj)on  enlarging  the  commerce  of  Spain 
and  making  the  kingdom  respected.     A  devoted  Catholic,  he 
WJ18  equally  "  a  good  defender  of  regality  ;  "  he  restrained  the 
exorbitant  claims  of  the  church,  and  was  no  friend  to  the  in- 
quisition.    (}iven  to  reHection,  and  naturally  slow  of  decision, 
ho  was  cold  and  excessively  reserved ;  a  man  of  few  words' 
but  those  words  were  to  the  pur])ose.     Feebleness  of  health 
untitted  him  for  indefatigable  labor,  and  was  perhaj)s  one  of 
the  causes  why  he  could  not  bear  contradiction,  nor  even  hear 
a  discussion  without  fretting  himself  into  a  passion.     To  his 
intercourse  with  foreign  powers  he  brought  duplicity  and  cun- 
ning ;  he  professed  the  greatest  regard  for  the  interests  and 
welf  .re  of  France  ;  but  his  heart  was  the  heart  of  a  Spaniard. 
In  his  numners  he  was  awkward  and  ill  at  case.     IIo  spoke 
French  with  difficulty.     With  the  vanity  of  a  man  of  consid- 
erable powers,  who  from  a  huxnble  station  liad  reached  the 
highest  under  the  king,  he  clung  to  office  with  tenacity ;  and, 
from  his  character  and  unfailing  subservience,  hi.^  supremacy 
continued  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Charles  III. 

His  ablest  colleague  was  Galvez,  the  minister  for  the  Indies 
—that  is,  for  the  colonies.  Like  Florida  Blanca,  he  had  been 
taken  from  the  class  of  advocates.  A  mission  to  ]\[exico  had 
made  him  familiar  with  the  business  of  his  department,  to 
which  he  brought  honesty  and  laborious  habits,  a  lingering 
prejudice  in  favor  of  commercial  monopoly,  and  the  purpose 
to  make  the  Spanish  colonies  self-sux^portiiig  both  for  produc- 
tion and  defence. 

Florida  J51anca  was  met  by  the  question  of  the  aspect  of 
the  Amei-ican  revolution  on  the  interests  of  Spain ;  and,  as 
Arthur  Lee  was  on  his  way  to  Madrid,  as  envoy  of  the  United 
States,  it  seemed  to  demand  an  immediate  solution.  The  king 
would  not  sanction  a  rebellion  of  subjects  against  their  sover- 
eign, nor,  with  his  vast  dominions  in  America,  could  he  con- 
cede  the  right  of  colonics  to  claim  independence. 


177T.     I'UEPARATrONS   FOK  THE  CAMPAIGN   OF   1777.       137 


Add  to  this,  that  an  American  alliance  involved  a  war  with 
Engliind,  and  that  Spain  was  unprepared  for  war.  Equal  to 
Oroat  Britain  in  the  number  of  her  inhabitants,  greatly  sur- 
passing that  island  in  the  extent  of  her  home  territory  and  of 
ner  colonies,  she  did  uot  love  to  confess  even  to  herself  her  in- 
feriority in  wealth  and  power.  Her  colonies  brought  her  no 
oi)ulence  ;  the  annual  exports  to  Spanish  America  had  thus  far 
fallen  short  of  four  millicms  of  dollars  in  value,  and  the  imports 
were  less  than  the  exports.  Campomanes  was  urging  through 
the  press  the  abolition  of  restrictions  on  trade;  but  for  the 
time  the  delusion  of  mercantile  monopoly  held  the  ministers 
fast  bound.  As  a  necessary  consequence,  the  king,  for  want 
of  seamen,  could  have  no  efficient  navy.  The  war  department 
was  in  the  hands  of  an  indolent  chief,  so  that  its  business  de- 
volved on  O'Reilly,  whose  character  is  known  to  us  from  his 
career  in  Louisiana,  and  whose  arrogance  and  harshness  were 
revolting  to  the  Spanish  nation.  The  revenue  of  the  kingdom 
lell  short  of  twenty-one  millions  of  dollars,  and  there  was  a 
lotorious  want  of  probity  in  the  management  of  the  finances. 
The  existing  strife  with  Portugal  was  very  serious,  for  it  had 
for  its  purpose  the  possession  of  both  banks  of  the  river  La 
Plata,  with  the  right  to  close  that  mighty  stream  against  all 
the  world  but  Spain.  In  such  a  state  of  its  navy,  army,  treas- 
ury, and  foreign  relations,  how  could  it  make  war  on  England  ? 

Artlmr  Lee  was  made  to  wait  at  Burgos  for  Grimaldi,  who 
was  on  his  Avay  to  Italy.  They  met  on  the  fourth  of  March, 
and  conversed  through  an  interpreter,  for  Lee  could  speak 
nothing  but  English.  Grimaldi,  who  describes  him  as  an  ob- 
stinate man,  amused  him  with  desultory  remarks  and  profes- 
sions :  the  relation  between  France  and  Spain  was  intimate ; 
the  Americans  would  find  at  New  Orleans  three  thousand 
barrels  of  powder  and  some  store  of  clothing,  which  they 
might  take  on  credit ;  Spain  would  perhaps  send  them  a  well- 
freighted  ship  from  Bilbao ;  but  the  substance  of  the  interview 
was,  that  Lee  must  return  straight  to  Paris.  "  All  attempts  of 
the  like  kind  from  agents  of  the  rebellious  colonies  will  be 
equally  fruitless ; "  so  spoke  Florida  Blanca  again  and  again  to 
the  British  minister  at  Madrid :  "  His  Catholic  majesty  is  re- 
solved not  to  inturf  ore  in  any  manner  in  the  dispute  coueerniiig 


m 


/) 


H"'        !■'■' 


ill 


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i'  ' 


It 


■ 

1  ^i  Ii 

1 

■ 

t 

• 

; 

■II 

m 

(  ■- 

^^H 

>< 

^^H  f 

1     ,' 

^Hu  r 

^B  i 

1 
1     ! 

^^^E  -  f 

'..    ^1 

138      AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE.    EP.iv.;cn.x. 

the  colonies;"  "it  is,  and  bas  been,  my  constant  opinion  that 
the  independence  of  Amenca  would  be  the  worst  example  to 
other  colonies,  and  would  make  the  Americans  in  every  respect 
the  worst  neighbors  that  the  Spanish  colonies  could  have." 
The  report  of  the  French  ambassador  at  Aranjuez  is  explicit : 
"  It  is  the  dominant  wish  of  the  Catholic  king  to  avoid  war ; 
he  longs  above  all  things  to  end  his  days  in  peace." 

Yet  Spain  was  irresistibly  dra^vn  toward  the  alliance  with 
France,  though  the  conflict  of  motives  gave  to  its  policy  an 
air^  of  uncertainty  and  dissimulation.     The  boundless  colonial 
claims  of  Spain  had  led  to  disputes  with  England  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy  years ;  that  is,  from  the  time  when  Eng- 
lishmeu  planted  a  colony  in  the  Chesapeake  bay,  which  Spain 
had  discovered,  and  named,  and  marked  as  its  own  bay  of  St. 
Mary's.     It  was  perpetually  agitated  by  a  jealousy  of  the  go  d 
faith  of  British  ministries ;  and  it  lived  in  constant  dread  of 
sudden  aggression  from  a  power  with  which  it  knew  itself 
unable  to  cope  alone.     This  instinctive  fear  and  this  mortified 
pride  gave  a  value  to  the  protecting  friendship  of  France,  and 
excused  the  wish  to  see   the  pillars  of  England's  greatness 
thrown  down.     Besides,  the  occupation  of  Gibraltar  by  Eng- 
land made  every  Spaniard  her  enemy.     To  this  were  added 
the  obligations  of  the  family  compact  between  the  two  crowns, 
of  which  Charles  III,  even  while  eager  for  a  continuance  of 
peace,  respected  the  conditions  and  cherished  the  spirit. 

Hence  the  Spanish  court  had  given  money  to  tlie  insur- 
gents, but  only  on  the  condition  that  Trance  should  be  its 
almoner  and  shroud  its  gifts  in  impenetrable  secrecy.  It  re- 
proved the  hot  zeal  with  which  Aranda  coimselled  war;  it 
suffered  American  ships,  id  even  privateers  with  their  prizes, 
to  enter  Spanish  harbors,  but  assured  England  that  everything 
which  could  justly  be  complained  cf  was  done  in  contraveir. 
tion  of  orders.  Fertile  in  subterfuges,  Florida  Blanca  evaded 
an  agreement  wiih  France  for  an  eventual  war  with  Great 
Bi-itain.  His  firs!  escape  from  the  importunity  of  Vergennes 
was  by  a  counter  proposition  for  the  two  powers  to  ship  largo 
reinforcements  to  their  colonies— a  proposition  which  Yev- 
gennes  rejected,  because  sending  an  army  to  the  murderous 
climato  of  St.  Domingo  would  involve  ail  the  mortality  and 


1777.     PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       139 

cost  of  a  war,  with  none  of  its  benefits.     Florida  Blanca  next 
advised  to  let  Britain  and  America  continue  their  straggle  till 
both  parties  should  be  exhausted,  and  so  should  invite  the  in- 
terposition of  France   nd  Spain  as  mediators,  who  would  then 
be  able  in  the  final  adjustment  to  take  good  care  of  their  re- 
spective interests.     To  this  Yergennes  replied  that  he  knew 
not  how  the  acceptance  of  such  a  mediation  could  be  brought 
about ;  and  in  July  he  unreservedly  fixed  upon  January  or 
February,  1778,  as  the  epoch  when  the  two  crowns  must  en- 
gage in  the  war,  or  forever  after  mourn  for  t'     opportunity 
lost  by  their  neglect. 

To  enlist  captive  American  sailors  in  the  British  navy, 
threats  were  used.  "  Hang  me,  if  you  wiU,  to  the  yard-arm 
of  your  ship,  but  do  not  ask  me  to  become  a  traitor  to  my 
country,"  was  the  answer  of  Nathan  Coffin;  and  it  expressed 
the  spirit  of  them  all.  In  February,  Franklin  and  Deane  pro- 
posed to  Storuiont,  at  Paris,  to  exchange  a  hundred  British 
seamen,  taken  by  an  American  privateer,  for  an  equal  number 
of  American  prisoners  in  England.  To  this  application  Stor- 
mont  was  silent ;  to  a  more  earnest  remonstrance,  in  April, 
he  answered :  "  The  king's  ambassador  receives  no  applica- 
tions from  rebels  unless  they  come  to  imijlore  his  maiestv's 
mercy."  "^     "^ 

For  land  forces,  the  princeling  of  Waldeck  collected  for 
tlie  British  service  twenty  men  from  his  own  territory  and  its 
neighborhood,  twenty-tliree  from  Suabia,  near  fifty  elsewhere, 
in  all  eiglity-nine ;  and,  to  prevent  their  desertion,  locked  them 
np  in  the  Hanoverian  fortress  of  Ilanieln.  The  hereditaiy 
prince  of  Cassel  had  a  troublesome  competitor  in  his  own 
father,  whose  agents  were  busy  in  the  environs  of  Hanau; 
nevertheless,  he  furnished  ninety-one  recniits,  and  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  additional  yagers,  which  was  fifty-six  more 
than  he  had  bargained  for. 

In  the  course  of  the  yean  hy  impressment  at  home  and 
theft  of  foreigners,  the  landgrave  of  llessc-Cassel  furnished 
fourteen  hundred  and  forty-nine  more.  This  number  barely 
made  good  the  losses  in  the  campaign  and  at  Trenton  ;  a  putrid 
epidemic,  wliich  at  the  end  of  the  winter  broke  out  among  the 
llessiiui  grenadiers  at  Brunswick,  in  eight  weeks  swept  away 


!    5 


-11!! 


m 


f'  III 


a     'i 


h 


m 

i^'  mil 


iil;' 

1    I  nil 

:  !  i                   1 

1 

.1     .1 

140      AMERICA  IN   ALLIANCE   WITH   FRANCE.    kimv.;oii.  x. 

more  than  tlirce  liuiidivil  of  tlio  al>lost  men,  and  their  2)laces 
wore  not  suppliccL 

Of  the  men  wlioin  tlie  (hike  of  Bniii.svvick  offered,  Fauoitt 
writes:  ''I  hardly  reiiieniher  to  have  ever  seen  such  a  j)arcel 
of  iniserahU',  ill-looking  fellows  collected  together."  Only  two 
hundred  and  twenty-two  of  them  were  accepted. 

To  clear  himself  from  debts  l)e(]neathed  him  hy  his  an- 
cestors, the  mai'grave  of  ]3randenhui'g-Aiisj)ach,  on  moderate 
terms,  furnished  two  regiments  of  twelve  hundred  men,  be- 
side a  company  of  eighty-five  yagers,  all  of  the  best  quality, 
and  ke])t  his  engiigement  with  exceptional  scrupulousness. 

In  the  former  year  a  passage  ha<l  everywhere  been  allowed 
to  the  subsidized  troops.  The  enlightened  mind  of  (Jermany, 
its  philoriophers,  its  j)oets,  began  to  revolt  at  the  hiring  of  its 
sons  for  armies  waging  war  against  the  rights  of  man  ;  the 
universal  feelhig  of  its  conunon  ])et)])le  was  a  perpetual  per- 
suasion against  enlistments,  and  an  incentive  to  desertion. 
Throughout  Germany  "the  news  of  the  capture  of  (lerm.'in 
troops  by  AVashington  in  177(>  excited  a  universal  jubilee."  * 
The  subsidized  princes  forced  into  the  service  not  merely 
vagabonds  and  loose  fellows  of  all  kinds,  but  any  unpro- 
tected traveller  or  hind  on  whom  they  could  lay  their  hands. 
The  British  agents  became  sensitive  to  the  stories  that  were 
told  of  them.  The  rulers  of  the  larger  states  felt  the  dignity 
of  the  empire  insulted.  Frederic  of  Prussia  showed  his  dis- 
gust as  o[ienly  ;us  possible.  The  coui't  of  Vienna  concerted 
with  the  elector  of  Mentz  and  the  elector  of  Treves  "  to  throw 
a  slur"  on  the  system.  At  ]\[entz,  the  yagers  of  llanau  who 
came  first  down  the  Rhine  were  8toi)ped,  and  eight  of  them 
rescued  by  the  elector's  order  as  his  subjects  or  soldiers.  Frc:n 
the  trooi)s  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  eighteen  were  removed 
by  the  jonnuissaries  of  the  ecclesiastical  prince  of  Treves,  At 
Coblentz,  Metternich,  the  active  young  representative  of  the 
court  of  Vienna,  in  the  name  of  IMaria  Theresa  and  Joseph  II., 
reclaimed  their  subjects  and  deserters. 

The  regiments  of  Ans})ach  could  not  be  trusted  to  carry 
anuuunition  or  arms,  but  were  driven  by  a  ct)mpauy  of  yagers 
well  provided  with  both,  and  ready  to  nij)  a  nuitiny  in  the 

*  Niebulir'a  (ioscliichto  dcs  Zcitaltors  der  Revolution,  i.,  1<)  and  7C. 


1777.      PREPA RATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGJ^  (>F  1777.      141 

bud.     Yet  eighteen  or  twenty  succeeded  in  deserting.     When 
the  rest  reached  their  jjlace  of  embarkation  at  Ochsenfurt  on 
the  Main,  the  regiment  of  Bayreuth  began  to  hide  themselves 
in  some  vineyards.     Tlie  yagers,  wlio  were  piclced  marksmen, 
were  ordered  to  tire  among  them,  by  wliicli  some  of  them  were 
killed.     They  avenged  themselves  by  putting  a  yager  to  death. 
The  margrave  of  Anspach,  summoned  by  express,  rode  to  the 
scene  in  tlie  greatest  haste,  leaving  his  watch  on  his  table,  and 
witliout  a  sliirt   to  change.     The  presence  of  their  "land's 
father"  overawed  them;  they  acknowledged  their  fault,  and 
submitted  to  his  ro|)rimauds.     Four  of  them  he  threw  into 
irons,  and  ordered  all  to  the  boats.     Assuming  in  person  the 
office  of  driver,  he  marclied  them  tlirough  Mentz  in  deliance 
of  the  elector,  administei-ed  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  king 
of  England  at  Nymwegen,  and  never  left  his  post  till,  at  the 
end  of  IVIarch,  in  tlie  ;)resence  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  he  in  per- 
son  delivered  at  S'cravendell  his  children,  whose  service  he  had 
sold.     Tliere  "  the  margrave  brought  the  men  on  board  him- 
self, went  through  tlie  ships  with  them,  marked  their  beds, 
gave  out  every  order  which  was  recommended  to  him,  and 
saw  it  executed,  with  but  little  assistance,  indeed,  from  his 
own  officers."     The  number  of  recniits  and  reinforcements 
obtamed  m  these  ways  amounted  to  no  more  than  thirty-five 
hundred  and  ninety-six. 

Three  thousand  men  had  been  expected  from  the  duke  of 
Wurtemberg,  who  had  been  in  England  in  search  of  a  con- 
tract. "  But  the  inability  of  the  duke  to  supply  any  troops  was 
soon  discovered,  and  the  idea,  though  not  without  threat  dis- 
api)ointment,  laid  aside."  The  "Catholic  princes  of  the  em- 
pire discouraged  the  service."  The  young  profligate,  who  was 
prince  of  Auhalt-Zerbst,  alone  caught  at  the  overture,  which 
found  him  engaged  with  three  other  princes  of  his  family  on 
a  hunting  expedition.  They  had  billeted  six  hundred  docrg 
upon  the  citizens  of  Dessau;  entranced  by  the  occasion,  he 
v/rote  m  strange  French:  "At  the  first  crack  of  the  hunts- 
man 8  whip  or  note  of  his  hunting-horn,  the  dugs  came  together 
like  trooi)s  at  the  beat  of  the  drum,  and  they  began  to  run 
down  the  beasts  of  the  forest;  it  would  not  be  bad  if  wc  could 
nm  down  the  Americans  like  that."    He  did  not  know  that 


^1:4 


w. 


i 


f 


U    ■       1*1 


:!:       'W 


ii  r 


l-l: 


AMKUKJA    IN    AM,IAN(!I':    WITH    KUANUK 


ici'.  IV. ;  on.  X. 


f.li(!  wild   limif,Htri!iii  of  rcvoliifloii  w 


IH    HOO 


II  to  wind  Ihh  l)ii^lt 


JUKI  run  down  (Iichci  princely  dcnN'rH  in  nnwi 

In  niirrnlin^Mlii'Hc  cvcnlH,  I  li.ivc^  I'ollowcid  <\('lnHiv('Iy  Uio 
loM,(M-K  nnd  piipirH  of  \\w  princ*'^  mid  iiiiniKlcrH  who  look  p;i,rf, 
in  IIki  friinHiiclionH.  Tlicy  provi*  Mio  liiw,  wliidi  ul!  indiiH: 
«'(»ii(iriiiM,  lli.il  Ili(<  trnnHiniHHion  of  nnconfroljcd  powcT,  v 
ilinjrllM"  niiiM  of  (lie  fnllid'H  npon  IlKM-liildrcn,  inovifahly  do- 
vclopH  corniplfKw  iind  dc-pnivilj.  Tlid  dcHpoliHin  of  iniin Ovw 
ninn  Nrin^H  !i  ciirHc  on  wliiilrvcr  fiiinily  rc'ccivt's  i(. 


ion 


Tiic  iK'w  (Jcrinan  IcvicK,  cxccpf,  tli(>  {{riniHwick  and   II; 


man 


r(«('niili<  and    four  coinpnnicH  of   llanaii  ya|]jorH  wliicrli  went  t;( 
(^)iu"Im'c,  wci(>  iiMod  to  rcinlonio  (liii  army  nndor  llowo.      From 
Orcal,  Hrilain  and  Ireland,  llir  nninlK'r  of 
N<'W  \'ork  ludorc  llic  end  of  Ili»>  year  waw  ll 


iiHMi  who  Hai 


1(^(1   I 


ircc  (lionsand  two 
imndr(>d  and  liaylwo;  for  Canada,  wan  soven  luindrcHl  and 
tWiMity-six. 


In  A 


nuM-ica    rccrnilini^  Hlnlions  for  llio   nHtisii  arniv 


woro 


«<H(idilisli('<l.  Ill  a  f«>w  niontliH  Dclancoy  of  New  \ Ork  on- 
lishMJ  altont  six  Imndivd,  and  ('orlland  Skiniu'r  of  Ni>w  .Icrsoy 
nion>  tlian  Hv(^  Imndivd  iikmi.  In  (Ju^  coiirso  of  tlio  winter 
(•onimissioiiH  W(>re  iHsned  for  iinhodyiiijj:  hIx  llioiisand  live  Imn- 
divd men    in   (liirie(>n   liadalioiiH;  and   hefor(Mlu>  end  of   M: 


m(m>  (lian  half  lliat  nnml 


i.y 


proporli(»n  of  IIkmii  wt>re  natives  (d'   Ameri 


>er  w!iH  ohtainod  ;  hul;  only  a  Hinall 


ca. 


T] 


w  HervKHs  01 


two  lliousand  French  Canadians  was  callod  for  and  exported 

'rii(>  delicieney  was  to  !.(>  supplied  I.y  tli(>  employment  of 
th(<  lai-iresl  possihio  nmnlu>rof  sava^jj^es,  for  which  (Ji'rmain  ia- 
siu'd  his  inslrnctions  with  almost  ludicrous  minuleness  of  de- 
tail; and  "tho  kins,',  after  consid(«rin!2:  cverv  information  that 


v(>  pailicnlai'  directions  for  ovcry  part 


could   Ih>   furnished,  oa 

of  the  disp,)silion  of  lli.>  f,.rces  in  (^inada."  It  was  their  Impo 
to  employ  hands  of  wild  warrioi-s  alon;,'  all  tlio  frontier.  The 
kiny-'s  peremptory  orders  were  sent  to  the  north-west  to  "ex- 
t(Mid  op.M-ations;"  and  amon-r  |l„,sc  whosi>  "inclination  for 
les      w;is  no  moi-e  io  he  restrained   were  enumerated 


ho.^tilit 
"the  Ott 


iwas,  the  (''liipi>eways,  the  Wyandots,  the  SI 


lawnees, 

JoSlM)! 


the  StMiecas.  (he  I)elawan>s,  and  the  Pottawatomiei 

Hnint,  the  Mohawk,  roused  his  countrymen  to  clamor  for  war 

wilder  leaders  oi  llu>ir  t)wii,  who  wouhi  induli^e  them  in  their 


1777.     J'UKl'AIiATIONS  FOR  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.       143 

cx(;oHH08  and  tuko  tlu;tri  wherever  they  wiwhod  to  j^o.  JIutnane 
JiritiHli  and  (ientian  olHcerH  in  Canada  foresaw  that  their  cruelty 
woidd  ho  un njKtrained,  and  from  sueh  allies  augured  no  good 
to  the  Hcrviec*  liut  the  jiolicy  oi  (iennain  Wiis  unexpect- 
edly promoted  l»y  the  releiine  of  La  Corrie  kSaint-Luc,  the  moHt 
ruthless  of  j)urtiHanH,  now  in  hiw  Hixty-wixth  year,  hut  full  of 
vigor  and  more  relentlenn  from  age.  He  had  vowed  eternal 
veng(!ance  on  "the  beggars"  who  liad  kept  him  captive;  and 
(ierniain  extended  favor  to  the  leader  who  ahove  all  others 
was  notoriouH  for  hrutal  inhumanity,  f 

lielying  on  Indian  mercenaries  to  hreak  up  tlic  copimu- 
nication  betwetin  Albany  and  Lake  (Jeorgo  by  the  terror  of 
their  raids,  tiie  secretary  drew  out  the  plan  of  the  northern 
campaign  in  concert  with  Ihxrgoyne,  who  was  seeking  his 
"  patronage  and  fri(UidKhi|)"  by  assurances  of  "a  solid  respect 
and  sine(!re  personal  attachment."  JSIeitlier  of  them  would  ad- 
mit a  doubt  of  the  trium])iiant  march  of  the  anny  from  Cana- 
da to  Albany,  'io  extend  the  success  through  all  New  York, 
Saint-LegiT  was  selected  by  the  king  to  conduct  an  expedition 
by  way  of  Lake  Ontario  for  the  ca])tnre  of  Fort  Stan wix  and 
the  Mohawk  valley  ;  and  orders  were  given  to  rally  at  JS'iagara 
the  thousand  savag(!S  who  were  to  be  of  the  party.  Tliese 
preparations,  (Jermaiu  assured  the  house  of  comiaons,  would 
be  BulHcient  to  linish  the  war  in  the  a|»i)roacliing  campaign. 

Parliament  in  Fc^bruary  authorized  the  grant  of  letters  to 
])rivate  ships  to  make  prizes  of  American  vessels;  and,  by  an 
act  which  desei-ihed  American  [)rivateersmen  as  pirates,  sus- 
pended th(^  writ  of  habeas  corpus  w^ith  regard  to  prisoners 
taken  on  the  high  seas.  The  congress  of  the  United  States, 
after  talking  of  a  lottery  and  a  loan  in  Ein-ope,  fell  back  upon 
issues  of  paper  money.  Lord  North  found  ample  resources 
in  new  taxes,  exche((uer  bills,  and  excise  duties,  a  profitable 
lottery,  a  lloating  debt  of  live  millions  sterling,  and  a  loan 
of  live  millions  more.  In  a  sermon  before  the  Society  for 
Tropagnting  the  (;os|)el,  Markham,  the  archbishop  of  York, 
not  doubting  the  con(piest  of  the  colonies,  reflected  on  their 
■'ideas  of  savage  liberty,"  and  rceonuncndcd  a  reconstruction 

*  Riotlosd's  journal,  written  for  the  duko  of  Brunswick.     MS. 
t  Tryou  to  Uorniuiii,  8  May  1777. 


^1 


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li. 


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1    ' 

III 


144  AMERICA  W  ALUASOE  WITH  FRATOE.  .p.,t.;c„.x. 
of  thoir  goveniraents  on  the  principle  of  complete  snWdina 
tion  to  Great  Bntain.  "  These,"  cried  Chatham,  "  are  thTdoe 
noes  of  Atterbnry  and  Saehevereli."  They  ^crTt  fe  doc 
tnnes  o  James  II.,  and  yet  thoy  were  adopted  hy  T  urW 
aa  the  fit  rule  for  governing  British  colonies  in  aJJI' 
Some  vMces  m  England  pleaded  for  the  Americans.    The 

Bristol   ,8      fnutless,  hopeless,  and  unnatural;"  the  earl  of 

S™"0      f''°".*''%'"''°'  ^■^'"  BriJain,  crud  a-^d 
nnju.t.      "Our  force,"  repliod  Fox  to  Lord  Morth  "is  not 

ei'.al  to  conquest;  and  America  cannot  be  brought' over  by 

fair  means  wlule  we  insist  on  taxing  her."     Burke  harbored 

a  ™sh  to  cross  the  channel  and  seek  an  interview  with  F^nt 

K.I  H  °/"rf  "'  I'°*-Sl'™  -ftsed  their  appr^l 
N,.  the  end  of  April,  Hartley  went  to  Paris  to  speak  S 
Frankim  of  peace  and  reunion,  and  received  for  answer  Xt 
England  could  never  conciliate  the  American,  butWcon  td 

ham,  on  the  thirtieth  of  May,  in  the  house  of  lords  ;  "instead 
of  exactmg  nnconditional  submission  from  the  co  onieT  we 
ought  to  grant  them  unconditional  redress.    nZ  ,   b     rfsl 
before  France  is  a  party.    Whenever  France  or  Spain  enter 
mto  a  fjeaty  of  any  sort  with  America,  G..at  Britaiu"^^:,  i^ 
mediately  declare  war  against  them,  even  if  we  have  but  five 

shortly  take  place,  if  pacifleation  be  delayed  " 

foui'ifthtfnbe  wTr:vSf.rh  "^ '"^  ™'^  i  -^-"^ 

.awed  under  msupe^^e^iC!'  rhl^'i^^S 
herself  m  a  violation  of  the  es.sential  principle  of  Engulh  li^ 
erty;  her  chief  minister  wronged  his  own  Jonvietionf  in  con 

Ml  1™  Lr " ''°""™ '°  "^  "^^"^'''  '"^^  ^--  -o^^ 


I  1 

4 


OH.  X. 


1777.       THE  OPENING   OF   THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.         145 


CHAPTER   XI. 

the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  litr. 

Maeoh-July  1777. 

General  Cir,\    '.es  Lee,  for  whom  congress  and  TVasliing. 
ton  offered  six  Hessian  field-officers  in  exchange,  and  threat- 
ened retaliation  if  he  were  (..be  treated  as  a  deserter,  assured 
his  captors  that  the  colonies  declared  independence  against  his 
advice,  and  volunteered  to  neg^.tiate  their  return  to  their  old 
allegiance.     With  the  sanction  of  the  Howes,  on  the  tenth  of 
February  he  wi'ote  to  cngress  requesting  that  two  or  three 
gentlemen  might  be  sent  to  him  immediately  to  receive  his 
communication;  and  in  private  letters  he  conjured  liiish,  Rob- 
ert Morris,  and  Richard  Henry  Lee  "to  urge  the  compliance 
with  his  request  as  of  the  last  importance  to  himself  and  to  the 
public."     Congress  promptly  resolved  that  "it  was  altogether 
improper  to  send  any  of  their  body  to  communicate  with 
him." 

On  the  eleventh  of  March,  during  a  fruitless  interview  of 
nine  hours  on  the  subject  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  Walcott, 
of  the  British  array,  speaking  under  instmctions  from  Howe, 
took  occasion  to  say  to  Harrison,  the  American :  "What  should 
prevent  General  Washington,  who  seems  to  have  the  power  in 
his  hands,  from  making  peace  between  the  two  countries  ?  " 
Harrison  replied:  "The  commissioners  have  no  other  powers 
than  what  they  derive  under  the  act  of  parliament  by  which 
they  are  appointed."  "  Oh,"  rejoined  Walcott,  "  the  minister 
has  said,  in  the  house  of  commons,  he  is  willing  to  place  the 
Americans  as  they  were  in  1763 :  suppose  Washington  should 
propose  this,  renouncing  independence  which  would  be  your 


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146     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   AVITU  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  ch.  x.. 

ruin  ? »  "  Why  do  you  refuse  to  treat  witli  congress  ? »  asked 
Harrison.  "Because,"  answered  Wulcott,  "it  is  unknown  as  a 
%a  assembly  to  both  countries.  But  it  would  be  worth 
Washington's  while  to  try  to  restore  peace."  Without  hesita- 
tion, ilarrison  put  aside  the  overture.* 

Eight  days  after  this  rebuif,  Lee'once  more  conjured  con- 
gress to  send  two  or  three  gentlemen  to  converse  with  him  on 
subjects     of  great  importance,  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  the 
community  he  so  sincerely  loved."     On  the  twenty-ninth,  con- 
gress "still  judged  it  improper  to  send  any  of  their  members 
to  confer  with  General  Lee."     The  vote  fell  upon  the  day  on 
which  Lee  presented  to  the  British  commanders  a  ])lan  for 
reducing  the  Americans,  saying:   "I  think  myself  bound  in 
conscience  to  furnish  all  the  lights  I  can  to  Lord  and  Gen- 
ei.  Howe."  f    To  Washington  he  wrote  in  tenns  of  Xl" 
and  as^ced  commiseration  for  one  whom  congress  had  wronged 
Just  at  this  tmie  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  who  uirderstood  Lee  lell 

gretted  that  it  was  impossible  but  he  must  puzzle  every- 
thing he  meddled  in;  that  he  was  the  worst  present  the 
Americans  could  receive."  ^     As  a  consequence,  leave  was 

BrT>.  -^ffi  T  \^''  '^'^^^"S"'  ^^^^^  ^'^  ^e^'^i^ed  through 
-british  officers  eleven  hundred  guineas. 

r..J^^r^  *^^  ^^'''^''  '^''^  ^™^^^  ^*  reconciliation  by  an  am- 
nesty, Germain  gave  them  this  new  instruction :  «  At  the  ex 
piration  of  the  period  hmited  in  your  prochmiation,  it  wi^^  be 
incumbent  upon  you  to  use  the  powers  with  which  you  are 
intrusted  m  such  a  manner  that  those  persons  who  shall  have 
sho^vn  hemselves  undeserving  of  the  roval  mercy  may  not 
escape   h.t  punishment  which  is  due  to  their  crimes,'lnd  wh'^! 

iZlLo  T  1  ''  ™  °'*  Banguinary,  thougli,  from  his 
indolence  and  neglect,  merciless  cruelties  were  inHicted  by  his 
H^ibordmates  ;  Lord  Howe  had  accepted  office  from  real  good- 
will o  Amenca  and  England;  and,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
March,  the  brothers  answered  :  "Are  we  required  to  withhold 

*  Walcott'8  report  to  Howe.     MS. 

tThe  Treason  of  Charles  Leo,  by  George  H.  Moore. 

t  Yorke  to  the  sucretaiy  of  state,  1  ilurch  1777.    MS. 


irrr.      the  orENma  of  the  campaign  of  1777.      147 

his  majesty's  general  pardon,  even  though  the  withholding  of 
such  general  pardon  should  prevent  a  speedy  termination  of 
tlie  wai-  ? " 

Howe  had  requested  a  reinforcement  of  fifteen  thousand 
men,  m  order  to  "finish  the  war  in  one  year."     For  the  con 
quest  of  a  continent  the  demand  was  certainly  moderate :  but 
Gerrnam,  confoming  his  judgment  to  the  letters  of  spies  and 
tale-bearers,  or,  as  he  eaUed  them,  "of  persons  weU  informed 
on  the  spot, '  professed  to  think  "that  such  a  requisition  ought 
not  to  bo  comphed  with.     Promising  but  four  thousand  ctr- 
mans,  a  larger  number  than  was  obtained,  he  insisted  that  Howe 
would  have  an  army  of  very  nearly  thirty-five  thousand  rank 
and  file,  so  that  it  would  still  be  equal  to  his  wishes."     The 
disingenuous  statement  foreshadowed  a  disposition  to  cast  upon 
him  all  blame  for  -any  untoward  events  in  the  next  campaign 

It  was  an.  enormous  fault  of  the  British  government  to  re- 
qmre  the  mam  body  of  the  reinforcements  destined  for  the 
army  of  General  Howe  to  traverse  more  than  two  hundi-ed 
leagues  of  a  region  replete  with  difliculties,  and  almost  desert. 
Ihe  scheme  originated  with  Carleton,  the  governor  of  Quebec, 
Avbo  as  he  outranked  Howe,  nursed  the  ambition  of  leading 
ten  thousand  men  victoriously  into  the  United  States,  and  on 
his  arrival  assuming  the  supreme  direction  of  the  war      The 
project  appeared  magnificent  to  the  cabinet  at  London,  and 
was  persisted  in  through  the  fascinating  promises  of  Burg^yne. 
Genei-al  Howe,  justly  indignant,  took  counsel  with  his  bro^ier, 
and  on  the  second  of  April,  despatched  to  the  secretary  the 

annvwniT.  v^'f  ^'^*^^'  ^^"^n:  "  The  offensive 

aimy  vvill  be  too  weak  for  rapid  success.  The  campaign  will 
not  commence  so  soon  as  yom-  lordship  may  expect.  Eestricted 
by  the  want  of  forces,  my  hopes  of  terminating  the  war  this 
,w  are  vanished."     Relinquishing  a  principaf  part  of  wha" 

t!ut  r'?'  ^'""^'''^^  ^'  ^^^"""^^^^  ^^«  determination  to 
S^  *  rr  '"'  r'^'  Pennsylvania  from  the  sea. 
He  further  made  known,  alike  to  Carleton  and  to  the  secretary, 

"  w  tM-.7'^  :"^  T  *"  '^^^"^^  ^'•^^  Canada  would  meet 
bnV  do  !S  "'"'T  ^''"  ^'^-^  ^''^y  ^^  '^^'  y^^^  ^  British 
weie  tiauafoiTcd  from  Kbode  Island  to  Amboy. 


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148     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  oh.  xi. 

In  the  middle  of  March,  Washington's  «  whole  number  in 
Jersey  ht  for  duty  wa^  under  three  tliousand ;  and  these,  nine 
hundred  and  eiglity-one  excepted,  were  militia,  who  stood  en- 
^ged  only  till  th.  ...t  of  ti,o  month."  In  JS^ew  Jersey,  the 
theatre  of  war,  he  advised  that  every  man  able  to  bear  L-ms 
should  turn  out,  and  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  buy  off 
his  service  ;  for,  said  he,  "every  injurious  distinction  between 
the  nch  and  the  poor  ought  to  be  laid  aside  now."  The  want 
of  arms  was  relieved  by  the  arrivnl  cf  ships  freighted  by 
Beaumarchais  from  the  arsenalb  of  J^'rance. 

Congress,  in  appointing  four  more  major-generals,  on  the 
pretext  tha  Connecticut  already  had  two  of  that  rank,  parsed 
over  Arnold,  the  oldest  brigadier.  To  Washington,  Arnold 
comi3lained  of  the  wound  to  his  "nice  feelings;"   to  Gates 

"  By  heavens  !  I  am  a  villain  if  I  seek  not 
A  brave  revenge  for  injured  honor  " 
On  the  first  of  March,  Alexander  Hamilton  joined  the  staff 
of  the  commander-in-chief  as  his  secretary,  and  thus  obtained 
the  precious  opportunity  of  studying  the  course  of  national  af- 
fairs from  the  largest  point  of  view  and  under  the  wisest  guid- 
ance    On  the  sanie  day  six  new  brigadiers  were  appointed. 
Stai-k  stood  at  the  head  of  the  roll  of  New  Hampshire  for  pro- 
motion, was  the  best  officer  from  that  state,  and  had  rendered 
very  great  service  at  Bunker  Hill,  Trenton,  and  Princeton; 
but,  on  the  Idea  that  he  was  self-willed,  he  was  passed  over. 
Chafing  a    the  mjustice,  he  retired  to  his  freehold  and  his 
plough,  where  his  patriotism,  hke  the  fire  of  the  smithy  when 
sprinkled  with  water,  glowed  more  fiercely  than  ever 

In  March,  Greene  was  sent  to  Philadelphia,  to  explain  to 
congress  the  pressing  wants  of  the  ai-my.  By  his  suggestion, 
the  commander-in-chief,  as  well  as  the  chief  officer  in  eve^ 
department,  was  permitted,  but  no  longer  required,  to  consult 
thegenera  officers  under  him;  and  it  wa.  recognised  as  his 
duty  fina  ly  to  direct  every  measure  according  to  his  own 
judgment."  To  raise  an  army,  Washington  saw  no  way  so 
good  as  that  of  drafting  adopted  by  Massachusetts,  on  an 
equal  apportionment  of  its  quota  to  each  of  its  towns;  and 
congress,  m  case  voluntary  enlistment  should  prove  insuffi- 


1777.        THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN   OF  1777.         I49 

cient,  "advised  indiscriminate  drafts  from  the  militia  of  each 
state." 

To  the  command  of  the  forts  in  the  Iliglilands  on  the  Ilud- 
son  George  Clinton  was  appointed  with  tin;  concurrence  of 
New  York,  of  congress,  and  of  Wa.slui.gtou.     In  the  northern 
department  confusion  grew  out  of  the  rivalry  between  Schuy- 
ler  and  Gates.    Congress,  on  the  seventeenth  of  June  1770  had 
directed  the  commander-in-chief  to  send  Major-General  Gates 
to  take  the  command  of  the  American  forces  in  Canada;  but  be- 
fore  he  arnved  there  the  American  army  had  retired  beyond  its 
boundary.    A  question  instantly  arose  whether  Gates  remained 
independent  of  Schuyler;   congress  disclaimed  the  "desi^m 
to  vest  him  with  a  superior  command  to  Schuyle-  while  the 
troops  should  be  on  this  side  Canada;"  and  they  recommended 
harmony  to  both  generals.     Harmony  between  them  was  im- 
possible ;  and  other  service  was  tiiought  of  for  Gates     But  in 
February  1777,  a  letter  from  him  Ret  forth  to  them  his  own 
merits,  saying:  "I  had  last  year  the  honor  to  command  in  the 
second  post  m  America,  and  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  mak- 
ing their  junction  with  General  Howe."     The  boast  was  a  false 
one ;  but  meantime  Schuyler  sent  to  congress  a  querulous  letter, 
which  they  voted  to  be  «  highly  derogatory  to  the  honor  of  con- 
gress       Ten  days  later  a  majority,  chiefly  of  the  New  England 
members,  without  consulting  the  commander-in-chief,  directed 
Gates  "to  repair  immediately  to  Ticonderoga  and  take  com- 
mand of  the  anny  there."     Claiming  to  be  appointed  to  the 
most  important  post  in  all  America,  Gates,  as  if  master  over 
alJ,  left  with  Lovell  of  Massachusetts  a  plan  how  to  station 
every  part  of  the  American  army  u])on  the  opening  of  the  cam- 
paign, and  continued  to  enjoin  its  exact  execution  as  the  best 
that  could  be  framed  "  for  the  defence  of  American  li])erty  "  * 
From  Albany,  near  the  end  of  April,  he  writes  to  congress  •  "  I 
foresee  the  worst  of  consequences  from  too  great  a  proportion 
01  the  main  army  being  drawn  into  the  Jerseys.     Request  con- 
gress m  my  name  to  order  two  troops  of  horse  to  Albany  " 
And  congress  directed  Washington  to  "forward  two  troops  of 
horse  to  General  Gates."     Washington  thought  that  the  re- 
qmsitions  of  Gates  should  be  made  directly  to  himself,  or  that 
*  Gatea  to  Lovell,  Albany,  29  April  1777.    MS. 


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150     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITU  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xu 

at  least  he  should  receive  a  duplicate  of  them ;  but  Gates  in- 
sisted on  dealing  directly  with  congress,  as  "the  common 
parent  of  all  the  American  armies." 

lie  asked  the  appointment  of  his  friend,  William  Gordon, 
afterward  historian  of  the  revolution,  as  chaplain-general  of  the 
northern  army.*  In  the  autumn  of  1770,  Kosciuszko,  a  Polish 
otlicer  of  courage,  modesty,  and  sound  judgment,  took  part 
with  Amei-ica.  Gates,  who  describes  him  as  "an  able  engineer 
and  one  of  the  best  and  neatest  draftsmen  he  ever  saw,"  wisely 
selected  him  for  the  northern  service,  and  ordered  him,  "after 
he  should  have  thoroughly  made  himself  acquamted  with  the 
works,  to  point  out  where  and  in  what  manner  the  best  im- 
provements and  additions  could  be  made  thereto." 

On  the  ninth  of  May,  resuming  his  eelf-conceit,  he  writes 
to  the  president  of  congress:  "In  my  name  assure  congress 
that  there  is  good  ground  to  hope  Ticonderoga  may  be  as  safe 
this  year  as  it  was  the  last."     To  Lovell  he  scoftingly  proposed 
that  Schuyler  should  go  and  command  at  Peekskill,  near  the 
New  York  convention  and  in  the  centre  of  the  colony.f    On 
his  petulnnt  requisition  for  tents,  Washington  explained  why 
there  was  a  scarcity  of  them.     At  this  Gat-s  complained  to 
Lovell  "how  little  he  had  to  expect  from  G  orge  Washington. 
Generals,  like  parsons,  are  all  for  christoMug  their  owr  child 
first;  let  an  impartial  moderating  power  decide  between  us.":|: 
Waiting  many  weeks  for  ordnance  and  stores,  he  announced  to 
Washington:  " I  am  resolved  not  to  leave  Albanv  before  I  see 
the  bulk  of  them  before  me."  ^ 

In  the  second  week  of  April,  Schuyler  resumed  his  seat  in 
congress,  fixed  in  the  purpose  of  recovering  his  conmumd.  By 
his  authority,  George  Clinton,  in  a  letter  to  the  New  York 
delegation,  set  forth  that  Schuyler  himself,  while  in  the  chief 
command  with  Gates  as  his  jimior,  claimed  to  have  made 
Ticonderoga  nearly  impregnable,  and  was  willing  to  assume  all 
responsibility  for  its  future  safety,  and  therefore  should  be  re- 
stored to  his  connnand,  yet  with  Gates  serving  as  in  the  pre 

*  Oates  to  Hancock,  Albany,  2  May  1111 .    MS. 
t  Gates  to  Lovell,  Albany,  12  May  1777.     MS. 
t  Gates  to  Lovell,  Albany,  25  May  1777.     MS. 

*  Gates  to  Washingtou,  Albany,  24  May  1777.    MS. 


1777.       TUE  OPENING  OF  THE   CAMPAIGN  OF   1777.         151 

ceding  year,*  Schuyler  announced  to  Washington  his  inten- 
tion "to  resign  his  commipsior. ; "  and  Washington  interposed 
no  dissuasions.  Yet  or  Jo  tw  nty-second  of  May,  in  the  un- 
happiest  liour  for  Sch.;^  'er,  in  the  moment  of  greatest  good  luck 
for  Gates,  congress,  aft  i  ,iv  ate  of  four  days,  by  an  accidental 
majority  of  one  stato,  act «  '-.1  to  Schuyler  the  command  of 
Albany,  Ticonderoga  Forf  "-^tanwix,  and  their  dependencies. 

The  only  notewortL  r  n  ,!itary  events  of  the  early  year  were 
attacks  upon  the  magazines  of  the  two  parties.  The  stores  for 
the  American  army  deposited  at  Peekskill  were  destroyed. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  April  a  detached  corps  of  eighteen 
hundred  men,  and  a  small  number  of  dragoons,  under  the 
command  of  Tryon,  now  a  major-general  of  provincials,  sailed 
from  N"ew  York,  under  convoy,  to  destroy  ati  American  maga- 
zine at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  About  three  hours  after  noon 
on  Saturday,  the  twenty-sixth,  they  reached  Danbury,  scattered 
the  givird,  which  was  composed  of  but  fifty  continentals  ard  a 
few  militia,  and,  under  a  heavy  rain,  destroyed  the  stores.  All 
night  long  tliey  were  busy  in  burning  the  village.  The  people 
rising  in  arms,  the  invading  party,  though  they  returned  by  a 
different  route,  were  waylaid,  and  forced  to  fly  as  from  Concord 
in  1775.  By  a  quick  march,  Arnold  and  Silliman  confronted 
them  on  Sunday  at  Ridgefield  with  four  hundred  men.  Woos- 
ter  hung  on  their  rear  with  two  hundred  more,  and,  cL  sring 
his  troops  by  his  words  and  his  example,  fell  at  their  head, 
mortally  wounded,  yet  not  till  he  had  taken  twenty  or  more 
prisoners.  Arnold,  throwing  up  a  barrier  across  the  road,  sus- 
tained a  sliarp  action  till  his  position  was  turned.  His  horse 
being  killed  under  him,  a  soldier,  seeing  him  alone  and  en- 
tangled, was  advancing  on  him  with  fixed  bayonet,  when  Ar- 
nold, drawing  a  pistol,  shot  his  assailant,  and  retired  unhurt. 

At  the  wane  of  the  day  the  British  troops,  in  an  oblong 
square,  lay  on  their  arms  till  moraing.  At  daybreak  on  Mon- 
day they  resumed  their  march,  and  escaped  danger  only  by 
fording  the  Saugatuck  a  mile  above  all  the  American  parties 
and  running  at  full  speed  to  the  high  hill  of  Compo,  within 
half  a  mile  of  their  convoy  at  Norwalk.     Before  night  the 

*  MR.  extract  from  the  letter  of  Clinton  to  the  New  York  delegation,  given  me 
from  the  Armstrong  papers  by  Koseiuozko  Armstron". 


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152     AMERICA  IN  ALLIAXOE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  oh.  xi. 

English  set  sail,  having  lost  about  two  hundred  men  •  the 
Americans  lost  not  half  so  many,  ' 

Congress,  who  at  Washington's  instance  had  elected  Arnold 
a  major-general,  voted  him  "a  horse  caparisoned,  as  a  token  of 
their  approbation  of  his  gallant  conduct."  To  booster  thev 
voted  a  monument.  "^ 

Return  Meigs  of  Connecticut,  leaniing  through  General 
Parsons  that  the  British  were  lading  transports  at  Sac  Har- 
bor, on  the  east  side  of  the  great  bay  of  Long  Island,  crossed 
the  sound  from  Sachem's  Head  on  the  twenty-third  of  May 
with   two  hundred  continentals,  in  whale-boats.     From  the 
north  beach  of  the  island  they  carried  their  beats  on   their 
backs  over  the  sandy  point,  embarked  again  on  the  bay,  and 
landed  after  midnight  within  four  miles  of  Sag  Harbor     To 
that  place  chey  advanced  before  daybreak  in  silence  and  order 
burned  one  vessel  of  six  or  eight  guns,  and  ten  loaded  trans^ 
ports  destmyed  the  stores  that  lay  at  the  wharf,  killed  five  or 
£ix  of  the  British,  and  captured  all  the  rest  but  four.     On  their 
retuni  they  reached  Cxuilford  with  ninety  prisoners  at  two  in 
the  afternoon,  having  traversed  by  land  and  water  ninety  miles 
m  twenty-five   hours.     Congress  voted   Meigs  a  sword,  and 
Washington  promoted  Sergeant  Ginnings  for  merit  in  the  ex- 
pedition. 

In  May,  Howe  received  letters  written  after  the  news  of 
the^  disasters  at  Trenton  and  Princeton  reached  England     Ger- 
main, whom  grievous  disappointment  made  more  and  more 
vengeful   expressed  extreme  mortification  that  the  brilliancy 
ot  Howe  s  successes  had  been  tarnished,  adding  :  «  They  who 
msolently  refuse  to  accept  the  mercy  of  their  sovereign  cannot 
expect  clemency ;  I  fear  you  and  Lord  Howe  must  adopt  such 
modes  of  carrying  on  the  war  that  the  rebels,  through  a  hvely 
experience  of  losses  and  sufferings,  may  be  brought  as  soon  as 
possible  to  a  ;     -.er  sense  of  their  duty."    The  secretary  added 
tlie  km.- 9  opm  :.n,  that  in  conjunction  with  the  fleet  "a  warm 
diversion"  should  be  made  "upon  the  coasts  of  the  Massachu- 
setts bay  and  New  Hampshire,"  and  their  ports  be  occuiMed  or 
destroyed."     Tlie  admiral  would  not  hearken  to  the  hint  to 
fmrn  Boston  and  other  seaside  towns  of  New  England;  and 
the  general  made  answer  that  "  it  was  not  consistent  with  other 


1777.        THE   OPENING  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.         153 

operatiops.'"  Notwithstanding  Gennain's  minute  directions, 
addressed  tlirougli  him  to  the  Indian  agent,  on  the  employ- 
ment of  savages  against  the  frontiers  of  the  southern  states, 
he  never  urged  "the  red  children  of  the  great  king"  to  deeds 
of  blood. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  May,  Washington  removed  his 
quarters  from  Morristown  to  the  heights  of  Middlebrook.  Of 
his  anny,  which  was  composed  of  no  more  than  seven  thou- 
sand five  himdred  men,  he  retained  about  six  thousa;:d  ia  his 
well-chosen  mountain  camp,  of  which  the  front  was  protected 
by  the  Earitan,  then  too  deep  to  be  forded,  and  the  right, 
where  the  ground  was  not  good,  by  two  strong  redoubts ;  the 
left  was  by  nature  difficult  of  access.  Here,  at  a  distance  of 
about  nine  miles  from  B-unswick,  he  kept  watch  of  his  enemy. 
General  Howe  put  on  the  appearance  of  opening  the  campaign. 
Two  more  British  regim3nts  were  ordered  from  Rhode  Island ; 
horses,  tents,  stores,  reinforcements,  arrived  from  England; 
and,  by  the  twelfth  of  June,  seventeen  thousand  men,  with 
boats  and  pontoons  for  crossing  the  Delaware,  were  assembled 
at  Brunswick.  The  veteran  officers,  alike  German  and  British, 
agreed  that  they  had  never  seen  such  a  body  of  men. 

^  It  was  Howe's  purpose  by  a  swift  march  to  cut  off  the  di- 
vision under  Sullivan,  which  was  stationed  at  Princeton ;  but 
the  troops  ordered  for  that  serWce  arrived  five  hours  too  late. 
Sullivan  hr.d  retired  to  the  Delaware,  and  was  not  pursued. 
Howe  next  occupied  a  fine  country  for  i  battle-field,  near  the 
American^  encampment.  During  this  period  Washington's 
arm^  at  night  slept  on  their  arms ;  in  the  morning  they  were 
arrayed  for  battle ;  but  Howe  dared  not  venture  an  attack,  and 
only  threw  up  fortifications  whicli  he  was  soon  to  abandon. 

Men  in  and  round  congress  fretted  at  Washiugf.n's  cau- 
tion. One  American  general  officer  wrote:  "AYo  must  fio-ht 
or  forfeit  our  honor;"  Samuel  Adams  was  "not  over-well 
])leased  with  what  was  called  the  Fabiau  war  ui  America.'"' 
To^  reproaches  Washington  answered :  "  As  I  have  one  gi-eat 
object  in  view,  I  shall  steadily  pursue  th-  means  which  iu  my 
judgment  lead  to  the  accomplishment  of  it ; "  and  he  euiitin- 
ued  to  baffle  and  soon  tired  out  an  enemy  of  nmeh  more  than 
twice  his  numbers.     On  the  evening  of  the  twentieth,  the 


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154     AMERICA  IN   ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  cii.  xi 

army  at  Middlebrook  learned  that  the  whole  British  force  in 

New  Jersey  was  returning  to  Amboy,  and  the  surrounding 

country  as  far  as  Brunswick  rung  with  their  shouts  and  salvos, 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second,  the  Anspach  and 

Hessian  yagers,  who  formed  the  rear  of  Heister's  divisiorx, 

were  much  cut  up  by  a  body  of  about  three  hundred  men! 

When  more  than  half  the  column  of  Cornwallis  hud  passed 

Piscataway,  his  patrols  on  the  left  were  fiercely  set  upon  by 

Morgan's  riflemen  and  driven  back  upon  the  column ;  and, 

though  Howe  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  two  nearest  regi' 

ments  to  meet  the  attack,  for  a  half-hour  they  continued  the 

light  within  the  distance  of  forty  yards,  and  did  not  retire  till 

he  ordered  up  heavy  artillery  and  scoured  the  woods  with 

grape. 

Having  taken  the  advice  of  his  general  officers,  Washington 
on  the  twenty-fourth  came  do^vn  with  the  main  body  of  his 
army  as  far  as  Quibbletown,  and  advanced  Lord  Stirling's  di- 
vision mth  some  other  troops  to  Matouchin,  with  ordersln  no 
event  to  bring  on  a  general  engagement.     Stirling,  who  was  a 
brave  man,  but  no  tactician,  saw  fit  to  aM-ait  an  attack.     His 
position  was  turned  and  his  party  put  to  flight,  leaving  two 
small  cannon.    The  British  lost  about  seventy  men ;  the  Ameri- 
cans, including  prisoners,  full  twice  that  number.     Washing- 
ton returned  to  the  hei;rht8  of  Middlebrook.    On  the  tliirtieth 
Howe  evacuated  New  Jersey,  never  again  to  step  on  its  soil' 
A  great  American  victory  would  not  have  given  a  deadlier 
blow  to  British  supremacy.     Jerseymen  who  had  accepted 
British  protection  fled  to  Staten  Island. 

In  Philadel])hia,  congress  celebrated  the  first  annivei-sary 
of  Independence  with  a  feeling  of  security.     The  bells  rang  all 
day  and  all  the  evening;  ships,  row-galleys,  and  boats  showed 
the  new  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States:  thirteen  stripes 
alternate  red  and  white  ;  for  the  union  thirteen  stars,  white  in 
a  blue  field,  representing  a  new  constellation.     At  one  o'clock 
the  ships  in  the  stream  were  manned.     At  three  tlie  meml)ers 
of  congress  and  officers  of  the  government  of  Pennsylvania 
dined  together.    »'  Our  country  "  was  on  the  lips  of  every  one ; 
"the  heroes  who  have  fallen  "were  commemorated;  the  Hes- 
sian band,  captured  at  Trenton,  played  excellently  well.   After- 


1777.        THE  OPEXINJ  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1777.         I55 

ward  there  were  militarv  parades,  and  at  night  bonfires  fire- 
works, and  a  general  illumination.  ' 

Six  days  later  a  most  daring  adventure  succeeded.     Pres- 
eott,  the  commander  of  the  British  forces  on  Ehode  Island 
had  his  quarters  at  a  farm-house  about  four  miles  from  New- 
poi;t,  on  the  west  side  of  the  island,  a  mile  from  any  troops, 
with  no  patrols  along  the  shore,  and  no  protection  but  a  sentry 
and  the  guard-ship  in  the  bay.     Informed  of  this  rashness, 
WiUiam  Laiton,  a  native  of  Warren,  then  a  heutenant-colonel 
m  the  Ehode  Island  militia,  on  the  night  following  the  ninth 
of  J.^y  embarked  in  whale-boats  at  Warwick  neck  a  party  of 
forty  volunteers,  steered  between  the  islands  of  Patience  and 
Prudence,  and  landed  at  Eedwood  creek.     Coming  up  across 
fields,  they  surrounded  Prescott's  house,  burst  open  the  doors, 
took  him  and  Lieutenant  Barrington  out  of  their  beds,  hurried 
them  to  the  water  without  giving  them  time  to  put  on  their 
clothes,  and,  while  men  from  the  several  camps  were  searching 
for  their  tracks  on  the  shore,  they  passed  under  the  stern  of 
the  guard-ship  which  lay  against  Hope  Island,  regained  War- 
wick, and  forwarded   their  captives  to  the  American  head- 
quarters in  Providence.     In  rank  Prescott  was  the  equal  of 
Lee,  and  they  were  promptly  exchano-ed. 


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156     AMERICA  IN   ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  oh.  xn. 


H'i    i 


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CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  ADVANCE   OF  BUKGOYNE  FROM  f!ANAT)A. 

Mat-August  1777. 

"  This  campaign  will  end  the  war,"  was  the  opinion  given 
by  Riedesel ;  and  through  Lord  Suffolk  he  solicited  the  con- 
tinued favor  of  the  British  king,  who  was  in  his  eyes  "  the 
adoration  of  all  the  universe."  Flushed  with  expectations  of 
glory,  Carleton  employed  the  unusually  mild  winter  in  prepa- 
rations. On  the  last  day  of  April  he  gave  audience  to  the 
deputies  of  the  Six  Is'ations,  and  accei:»ted  their  services  with 
thanks  and  gifts.  Other  large  bodies  of  Indians  were  engaged, 
under  leaders  of  their  own  approval.  "  Wretched  colonies ! " 
said  Riedesel,  "  if  these  wild  souls  are  indulged  in  war." 

To  secure  the  Mohawks  to  the  British  side,  Joseph  Brant 
urged  them  to  abandon  their  old  abode  for  lands  more  remote 
from  American  settleTuents.  To  counteract  his  authority, 
Gates,  near  tlio  end  of  May,  thus  spoke  to  a  council  of  war- 
riors of  the  Six  Nations : 

"  The  United  States  are  now  one  people ;  suffer  not  any 
evil  spirit  to  lead  you  into  war.  Brothers  of  the  Mohawks,  you 
will  be  no  more  a  people  from  the  time  you  quit  your  ancient 
habitations ;  if  there  is  any  wretch  so  bad  as  to  think  of  pre- 
vailing upon  you  to  leave  the  sweet  stream  so  beloved  by  your 
forefathers,  he  is  your  bitterest  enemy.  Before  many  moons 
pass  away,  the  pride  of  England  will  l^e  laid  low ;  then  how 
hap])y  will  it  ke  you  to  reflect  that  you  have  preserved  the 
neutrality  so  earnestly  recommended  to  you  from  the  beginning 
of  the  war!  Brothers  of  the  Six  Nations,  the  Americans  well 
know  your  great  fame  and  power  as  warriors ;  the  only  reason 


fe 


,!'' 


1777.    THE  ADVANCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA.     I57 

why  tliey  did  not  ask  your  help  against  the  cruelty  of  the  Idng 
was,  that  they  thought  it  ungenerous  to  desire  you  to  suffer  in 
a  quarrel  in  which  you  had  no  concern.  Brothers,  treasure  all 
I  have  now  said  in  your  hearts;  for  the  day  will  come  when 
you  will  hold  my  memory  in  veneration  for  the  good  advice 
contained  in  this  speech." 

The  settlers  in  the  land  which  this  year  took  the  name  of 
Vermont  refused  by  a  great  majority  to  come  under  the  juris- 
diction of  New  York ;  on  the  fifteenth  of  January  1777,  their 
convention  declared  the  independence  of  their  state.'  At 
Windsor,  on  the  second  of  June,  they  appointed  a  committee  to 
prepai-e  a  constitution;  and  they  hoped  to  be  received  mto  the 
American  union.  But,  as  New  York  opposed,  congress,  by  an 
uncertain  majority  against  a  determined  minority,  disclaimed 
the  intention  of  recognising  Vermont  as  a  sei^arate  state. 

Gates  charged  Saint-CIair  to  "call  lustily  for  aid  of  aU 
kinds,  for  no  general  ever  lost  by  surplus  numbers  or  over- 
preparation  ; "  and  he  then  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  to  intrigue 
for  his  reinstatement. 

On  the  twelfth,  Saint-Clair,  the  best  of  the  brigadiers  then 
m  the  North,  reached  Ticonderoga.  Five  days  later  Schuyler 
visited  his  army.  Mount  Defiance,  which  overhangs  the  outlet 
of  Lake  Georp^e  and  was  the  "key  of  the  position," \vas  left  un- 
occupied. From  the  old  French  intrenehments  to  the  south- 
eastern works  on  the  Vermont  side  the  wretchedlv  planned 
and  unfinished  defences  extended  more  than  two  miles  and  a 
half;  and  from  end  to  end  of  the  straggling  lines  and  mis- 
placed block-houses  there  was  no  spot  which  could  be  held 
against  a  superior  force.  The  British  could  reach  the  place  by 
the  lake  more  swiftly  tlian  tlie  Americans  through  the  forest. 
A  necessity  for  evacuating  the  post  might  arise ;  but  Schuyler 
shrunk  from  giving  definite  instructions,  and,  returning  to 
Albany,  busied  himself  mth  forwardiiig  to  Ticonderoga  sup- 
plies for  a  lonn    lep.'. 

On  the  sixth  <>f  May,  Burgoyno  arrived  at  Quebec.  Carle- 
ton  received  with  amazement  despatches  censuring  his  conduct 
in  the  last  campaign,  and  oraering  him,  for  "  the  speedy  quell- 
ing of  tlie  rebellion,"  to  make  over  to  an  inferior  ofiicer  the 
command  of  the  Canadian  army  as  soon  as  it  should  cross  the 


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158     AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE  WITH   FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  en.  xii. 

l)onndary  of  the  province  of  Qneboe.  Answeriiif]^  with  pas- 
sionate recrimination  the  jnst  reproaclies  of  Gennaiu  and  of 
hi.s  adviser  Lord  Amherst,  lie  at  once  yielded  np  the  chief 
military  antliority,  and,  as  civil  governor,  paid  a  haughty  hnt 
unquestioning  obedience  to  tlie  rerpiisitiuns  of  Biirgoyne. 
Contracts  were  made  for  fifteen  hundred  horses  and  five  hun- 
dred carts ;  a  thousand  Canadians,  reluctant  and  prone  to  de- 
sertion, were  called  out  as  road-nuikers  and  wagoners ;  and  six 
weelcs'  supplies  for  the  army  ^vere  crowded  forward  upon  the 
one  line  of  communication  by  the  Sorcl.  Eurgoyne  had  very 
nearly  all  tlie  foi'ce  which  he  had  represented  as  sufficient. 
His  officers  were  well  chosen,  especially  Phillips  and  Eiedesel 
as  major-generals  and  the  Highlander  Fraser  as  an  acting 
brigadier.  A  diversion,  from  wliich  great  consequences  were 
expected,  was  to  jiroceed  by  Avay  of  Lake  Ontario  to  the  Mo- 
hawk river.  Sir  William  llovre  was  nctiticd  that  Burgoyne 
had  orders  to  force  a  junction  with  his  army. 

On  the  lifteonth  of  June,  Burgo}^le  advanced  from  St. 
eTohn's,  as  he  thought,  to  easy  victories  and  high  promotion. 
Officers'  wives  attended  their  husbands,  promising  themselves 
an  agreeable  trip.  On  the  twentieth  some  of  the  Indians, 
shedding  the  first  blood,  brought  in  ten  scalps  and  as  many 
prisoners.  The  next  day,  at  the  camp  near  the  river  Bouquet, 
a  little  north  of  Crown  Point,  Burgoyne,  the  api)lauded  writer 
of  plays  for  the  stage,  gathering  round  him  the  chief  officers 
of  his  army  in  their  gala  uniforms,  met  in  congress  about  four 
hnndred  Iroqnois,  Algonkin,  and  Ottawa  sa\-ages,  and  thus 
appealed  to  what  he  called  "  their  wild  honor"  : 

"  Warriors,  you  are  free ;  go  forth  in  might  of  your  valor 
and  your  cause ;  strike  at  the  common  enemies  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  America,  disturbers  of  public  order,  peace,  and  happi- 
ness, destroyers  of  commerce,  parricides  of  the  state.  The  circle 
round  you,  the  chiefs  of  his  majesty's  European  forces,  and  of 
those  of  the  princes,  his  allies,  esteem  you  as  brothers  in  the 
war;  emulous  in  glory  and  in  friendship,  we  will  reciprocally 
give  and  receive  examples.  Be  it  our  task  to  regulate  your 
passions  when  they  overbear.  I  positively  forbid  bloodshed, 
when  you  are  not  opposed  in  arms.  Aged  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, and  prisoners  nuist  be  held  sacred  froiii  the  knife  and  the 


1777.    THE  ADVANCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA.     159 

Imtchet,  even  in  the  time  of  actual  conflict.  You  sliall  receive 
compensation  for  the  prisoners  you  take,  but  you  shall  be  called 
to  account  for  scalps.  Your  customs  have  affixed  an  idea  of 
honor  to  such  badges  of  victory  :  you  shall  be  aUowed  to  take 
the  scalps  of  tlie  dead,  when  killed  by  your  lire  in  fair  opposi- 
tion ;  but  on  no  pretence  are  they  to  be  taken  from  the  wound- 
ed or  even  dying.  Slioidd  the  enemy,  on  their  part,  dare  to 
countenance  acts  of  barbarity  toward  those  who  may  fall  into 
their  hands,  it  shall  be  yours  to  retaliate." 

An  old  Iroquois  chief  replied  :  «  When  you  speak,  wo  hear 
the  voice  of  our  great  father  beyond  the  great  lake.  We  have 
been  tried  and  tempted  by  the  Bostonians  ;  but  we  loved  our 
father,  and  our  hatchets  have  been  sharpened  upon  our  aifec- 
tions.  In  proof  of  sincerity,  our  whole  villages,  able  to  go  to 
war,  are  come  fortli.  The  old  and  mfirm,  our  infants  and 
wives,  alone  remain  at  liome.  With  one  common  assent  we 
promise  a  constant  obedience  to  all  you  have  ordered  and  all 
you  shall  order ;  and  may  the  Father  of  days  give  you  many, 
and  success." 

Having  feasted  the  Indians  according  to  their  custom.  Bur- 
goyne  published  his  speech,  which  reflected  his  instructions. 
Ednmnd  Bm-ke,  who  had  learned  that  the  natural  ferocity  of 
those  tribes  far  exceeded  the  ferocity  of  all  barbarians  men- 
tioned in  history,  pronounced  that  they  were  not  flt  allies  for 
the  king  in  a  war  with  his  people ;  that  Englishmen  should 
never  conflrm  their  evil  habits  by  fleshhig  them  in  the  slaugh- 
ter of  British  colonists.  In  the  house  of  commons  Fox  cen- 
sured the  king  for  suffering  them  in  his  camp,  when  it  was 
well  kno\^-n  that  "  brutality,  murder,  and  destruction  were  ever 
inseparable  from  Indian  warriors."  When  Suffolk,  before  the 
lords,  contended  that  it  was  perfectly  justifiable  to  use  all  the 
means  which  God  and  nature  had  put  into  their  hands,  Chat- 
ham called  down  "the  most  decisive  indignation  at  these 
abominable  principles  and  this  more  abominable  avowal  of 
them." 

In  a  proclamation  issued  at  Crown  Point,  Burgojne,  claim- 
ing to  speak  "in  consciousness  of  Christianity  and  the  honor 
of  soldiership,"  enforced  his  persuasions  to  the  Americans  by 
menaces  like  these :  "  Let  not  people  consider  their  distance 


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160    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.  ;  ch.  xii. 

from  my  camp ;  I  have  but  to  give  stretcli  to  tlie  Indian  forces 
under  my  direction,  and  tliey  amount  to  thousands,  to  overtake 
the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Britain.  If  the  frenzy  of  hos- 
tility should  remain,  I  trust  I  shall  stand  acf[uittcd  in  the  eyes 
of  God  and  man  in  executing  the  vengeance  of  the  state  against 
the  wilful  outcasts." 

On  the  last  day  of  June,  Burgoyne  declared  in  general  or- 
ders :  "  This  anuy  must  not  retreat ; "  while  Saint-CIair  wrote 
to  Schuyler :  "  Should  the  enemy  attack  us,  they  will  go  hack 
faster  than  they  came.''  On  the  first  of  July  the  invading 
army  moved  up  the  lake.  As  they  encamped  at  evening  he- 
fore  Ticonderoga  and  Mount  Independence,  the  rank  and  file, 
exclusive  of  Indians,  mnuhcred  three  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  twenty -four  British,  three  thousand  and  sixteen  Germans, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  provincials,  besides  four  hundred  and 
seventy-three  skilful  artillerists,  with  an  excessive  supply  of 
artillery.  On  the  third,  one  of  Saiut-Claii-'s  aids  promised 
Washington  "  the  total  defeat  of  the  enemy."  On  that  day 
Eiedesel  was  studying  how  to  invest  Mount  Independence. 
On  the  fourth,  Phillips  seized  the  mills  near  the  outlet  of 
Lake  George,  and  hemmed  in  Ticonderoga  on  that  side.  In 
the  following  night  a  party  of  infantry,  following  the  intima- 
tion of  Lieutenant  Twiss  of  the  engineers,  took  possession  of 
Mount  Defiance.  In  one  day  more,  batteries  from  that  hill 
would  play  on  both  forts,  and  Eiedesel  complete  the  invest- 
ment of  ]\Iount  Independence.  "  We  must  away,"  said  Saint- 
Clair ;  his  council  of  war  were  all  of  the  same  mind,  and  the 
retreat  nuist  be  made  the  very  next  night.  The  garrison,  ac- 
cording to  his  low  estimate,  consisted  of  thirty-three  Inmdred 
men,  of  whom  two  thirds  M'cre  effective,  but  with  scarcely 
more  than  one  bayonet  to  every  tenth  soldier.  One  regiment, 
the  invalids,  and  such  stores  as  there  was  time  to  lade,  were 
sent  in  boats  up  the  lake  to  Whitehall,  while  the  great  body  of 
the  troops,  under  Saint-Clair,  tuok  the  new  road  through  the 
wilderness  to  Ilubbardton. 

They  left  ample  stores  of  ammunition,  flour,  salt  meat,  and 
herds  of  oxen,  more  than  seventy  cannon,  and  a  large  number 
of  tents.  Burgoyne,  who  came  up  in  the  fleet,  sent  Fraser 
with  twenty  companies  of  English  grenadiers,  followed  by 


tiiili 


1777.     THE  ADVAFOE  OF  BURGOYNE   FROM  CANADA.     Itjl 

Riedesel's  infantry  and  reserve  corps,  in  pursuit  of  the  army 
of  Saint-Clair ;  and,  as  soon  as  tte  channel  between  Ticonde- 
roga  and  Mount  Independence  could  be  cleared,  the  fleet, 
bearing  Burgoyne  and  the  rest  of  his  forces,  chased  after  the 
detachment  which  had  escaped  by  water.  The  Americans 
bm-niug  three  of  their  vessels,  abandoned  two  others  and  the 
fort  at  Wliitehall.  Everything  which  they  brought  from  Ti- 
conderoga  was  destroyed,  or  fell  a  prey  to  their  pursuers. 

On  the  same  day  Burgoyne  reported  to  his  government 
that  the  army  of  Ticonderoga  was  "disbanded  and  totally 
ruined."  Germain  cited  to  General  Howe  this  example  of 
"  rapid  progress,"  and  predicted  an  early  junction  of  the  two 
armies.  Men  disputed  in  England  whether  most  to  admire 
the  sword  or  the  pen  of  Burgoyne ;  and  were  sure  of  the  entire 
conquest  of  the  confederate  provinces  before  Christmas. 

Public  opinion  rose  against  Schuyler.  Of  the  evacuation 
of  Ticonderoga,  Hamilton  reasoned  rightly :  "  If  the  post  was 
untenable,  or  required  a  larger  number  of  troops  to  defend  it 
than  could  ho  spared  for  the  pui-pose,  it  ought  long  ago  to  have 
been  foreseen  and  given  up.  Instead  of  that,  we  have  kept  a 
large  quantity  of  cannon  in  it,  and  have  been  heaping  up  very 
valuable  magazines  of  stores  and  provisions,  that  in  the  critical 
moment  of  defence  are  abandoned  and  lost."  *  So  judged  the 
public  and  congress.  Schuyler  had,  as  the  condition  of  his  re- 
appointment to  the  command,  taken  upon  himself  the  respon- 
sibihty  of  the  defence  of  Ticonderoga,  and  had  claimed  praise  . 
for  having  piled  up  ample  stores  wichin  its  walls.  He  sought 
to  escape  from  condemnation  by  Insisting  that  the  retreat  was 
made  without  the  least  hint  from  himself,  and  was  "  ill-judged 
and  not  wai-ranted  by  necessity."  With  manly  frankness  Saint- 
Clair  assumed  as  his  own  the  praiseworthy  act  which  had  saved 
to  the  country  many  of  its  bravest  defenders. 

On  the  second  of  July  the  convention  of  Vermont  reassem- 
bled at  Windsor.  The  organic  law  which  they  adopted,  blend- 
ing the  culture  of  their  age  with  the  traditions  of  Protestantism, 
assumed  that  all  men  are  born  free  and  with  inalienable  rights  ; 
that  they  may  emigrate  from  one  state  to  another,  or  fonn  a 
aew  stiite  in  vacant  countries ;  that  "  evory  sect  should  observe 

*  Hamilton's  works,  i.,  31. 


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in2    AMERICA   TN  ALLIANCE  WITH   FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  en.  XII. 


the  Lord's  day,  and  keep  up  some  sort  of  reli^ons  worship;" 
that  every  man  may  choose  that  form  of  religious  worship 
"  which  shall  seem  to  liiin  most  agreeable  to  the  revealed  will  of 
God."  They  provided  for  a  school  in  each  town,  a  grammar- 
school  in  each  county,  and  a  university  in  the  state.  All 
officers,  alike  executive  and  legislative,  were  to  be  cliosen  an- 
nually and  by  ballot ;  the  freemen  of  every  town  and  all  one- 
year's  residents  were  electoi-s.  Every  member  of  the  house  of 
representatives  must  declare  "  his  belief  in  one  God,  the  re- 
warder  of  the  good  and  the  punislier  of  the  wicked ;  in  the 
divine  inspiration  of  the  scriptures;  and  in  ilie  Protestant 
religion."  The  legislative  power  was  vested  in  one  general 
asseml)ly,  subject  to  no  veto,  though  an  advisory  power  was 
given  to  a  board  consisting  of  the  governor,  lieutenant-gover- 
nor, and  twelve  councillors.  Slavery  was  forbidden  and  for- 
ever;  and  tliere  could  be  no  iinprisonment  for  debt.  Once  in 
seven  years  an  elective  council  of  censora  was  to  take  care  that 
freedom  and  the  constitution  were  preserved  in  purity. 

The  marked  similarity  of  this  system  to  that  of  Pennsyl- 
vania is  ascribed  in  part  to  the  influence  of  Thomas  Young  of 
Philadelphia,  who  had  published  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Vermont.  After  the  loss  of  Ticondoroga,  the  introduction  of 
the  constitution  was  postponed,  lest  the  process  of  change 
should  intei'fere  with  the  public  defence,  for  which  the  Ver- 
mont council  of  safety  su])i)licated  aid  from  the  New  Hamp- 
shire committee  at  Exeter  and  from  Massachusetts. 

On  the  night  of  the  sixth.  Eraser  and  his  party  made  their 
bivouac  seventeen  miles  from  the  lake,  with  that  of  Riedesel 
three  miles  in  their  rear.  At  three  in  the  morning  of  the 
seventh  both  detachments  were  in  motion. 

Saint-Clair's 


The  savages  hav- 
army,  which 


ing  discovered  the  rear-guard  of 

Warner,  contrary  to  his  instructions,  had  encam])ed*^  for  the 
night  at  Hubbardton,  six  miles  short  of  Castleton,  Eraser,  at 
five,  ordered  his  troops  to  advance.  To  their  great  surprise, 
Wanier,  who  was  nobly  assisted  by  Colonel  Eben  Erancis  and 
his  New  Hampshire  regiment,  turned  and  began  the  attack. 
The  English  were  like  to  be  worsted,  when  Riedesel  with  his 
vanguard  and  company  of  yagers  came  up,  their  music  playing, 
the   men  singing  a   battle-hymn.     Francis  for  a  third  time 


1777.    THE  ADVANCE  OF  BUllGOYNE  FKOM  CANADA.    103 

cliarged  at  tlie  head  of  his  roj^iinent,  and  held  his  enemies  at 
bay  till  lie  fell.  On  tlie  approach  of  tlio  three  (Jerraan  bat- 
talions, his  men  retreated  toward  the  soutli.  Fraser,  talcing 
Riedesel  by  the  hand,  tlianked  him  for  the  timely  reseue.  Of 
the  Americans,  few  were  killed,  and  most  of  those  engaged  in 
the  fight  made  good  their  retreat;  hut  during  the  day  the 
British  took  more  than  two  hundred  stragglers,  wounded  men, 
and  invalids.  Of  the  BnmswickLi-s  twenty-two  were  killed 
or  wounded,  of  the  British  one  hundred  and  fifty-tive.  The 
hea\y  loss  stopped  the  pursuit;  and  Saint-Clair,  witli  two 
thousand  continental  troops,  marched  unmolested  to  Fort  Ed- 
■\vard. 

The  British  regiment  which  chased  the  fugitives  from  "White- 
hall took  ground  within  a  mile  of  Fort  Ann.  On  the  mornin"' 
of  the  eighth  its  garrison  'rove  them  nearly  thrci'  miles,  took 
a  captain  and  three  i)rivalt's,  and  inflicted  a  loss  of  at  least  fifty 
in  killed  and  wounded.  Ecinforced  by  a  brigade,  the  English 
returned  only  to  find  the  fort  burned  down,  and  tlie  garrison 
beyond  reach. 

Burgoyne  chose  to  celebrate  these  events  by  a  day  of  thanks- 
giving. Another  disappointment  awaited  him.  He  asked 
Carlcton  to  hold  Ticonderoga  with  a  part  of  the  three  thou- 
sand troops  left  in  Canada;  Carleton,  pleading  his  instructions 
which  confined  him  to  his  own  province,  refused,  and  left  Bur- 
goyne "to drain  the  life-blood  of  his  army"  for  the  garrison. 
Supplies  of  iirovisions  came  tardily.  Of  the  Canadian  horses 
contracted  for,  not  more  than  one  third  arrived  in  good  condi- 
tion over  the  wild  mountain  roads.  The  wagons  were  made 
of  green  wood,  and  were  deficient  in  number.  Further,  Bur- 
goyne should  have  turned  back  from  Whitehall  and  moved  to 
the  Hudson  river  by  way  of  Lake  George  and  the  old  road ; 
but  the  word  was :  "  Britons  never  recede ; "  and  after  the  halt 
of  a  fortnight  he  took  the  short  cut  to  Fort  Edward,  through 
a  wilderness  bristling  with  woods,  broken  by  numerous  creeks, 
and  treacherous  with  morasses.  He  reports  with  complacency 
the  construction  of  more  than  forty  bridges,  a  "log-work" 
over  a  morass  two  miles  in  extent,  and  the  removal  of  layers  of 
fallen  timber-trees.  But  this  persistent  toil  in  the  heat  of  mid- 
summer, among  myriads  of  insects,  dispirited  his  troops. 


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101    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FIIANCE.    ep.  iv. ;  en.  xii. 

/^  Early  in  Tnlv,  Burgojnc  confessed  to  Germain  that,  "were 
.the  Indians  htc  to  themselves,  enormities  too  horrid  to  think  of 
would  ensue  ;  guilty  and  innocent,  women  and  infants,  would 
Ibe  a  common  prey."     The  general,  nevertheless,  resolved  to 
hise  them  as  instruments  of  "terror,"  and  promised, after  arriv- 
ing at  Albany,  to  send  them  "toward  Connecticut  and  Bos- 
ton '  knowmg  full  well  that  they  were  left  to  themselves  by 
U  Come  Saint-Luc,  their  leader,  who  was  impatient  of  control 
/  m  the  use  of  the  scalping-knif e.     Every  day  the  savages  brought 
/  in  scalps  as  well  as  prisoners.     On  the  twenty-seventh,  Jane 
\^  Maccrea,  a  young  woman  of  twenty,  betrothed  to  a  loyalist  in 
\  the  British  service  and  esteomhig  herself  under  the  protection 
of  British  arms,  was  riding  from  Fort  Edward  to  the  British 
camp  at  Sandy  Hill,  escorted  by  two  Indians.      The  Indians 
quarrelled  about  the  re\vard  promised  on  her  safe  arrival,  and 
at  a  half-mile  from  Fort  Edward  one  of  them  sunk  his  toma- 
hawk m  her  skull.     The  incident  was  not  of  unusual  bar- 
barity; but  this  massacre  of  a  betrothed  giri  on  her  way  to 
her  lover  touched  all  who  heard  the  story.     Burgoyne,  from 
fear  of  "the  total  defection  of  the  Indians,"  pardoned  the 
,assassin. 

Schuyler  owed  his  place  to  his  social  position,  not  to  military 
talents.    Anxious,  and  sus])ected  of  a  want  of  personal  courao-e 
he  found  everything  go  ill  under  his  command.     To  the  conti- 
nental troops  of  Saint-Clair,  who  were  suilering  from  the  loss 
of  their  clothes  and  tents,  ho  was  unable  to  restore  confidence  • 
nor  could  he  rouse  the  people.     The  choice  for  governor  of 
IJew  York  fell  on  George  Clinton;    "his   character,"  said 
Washington  to  the  council  of  safety,  "will  make  him  pecu- 
liarly useful  at  the  head  of  your  state."    Schuyler  wrote :  "  His 
family  and  connections  do  not  entitle  him  to  so  distiiumished 
a  pre-eminence."    There  could  be  no  liope  of  a  successful  cam- 
paign but  with  the  hearty  co-operation  of  New  England     Of 
the  militia  of  New  England  the  British  commander-in-chief 
has  left  his  testimony  that,  "when  l>rought  to  action,  they 
were  the  most  ])ersevering  of  any  in  all  North  America;"  yet 
Schuyler  gave  leave  for  one  half  of  them  to  go  home  at  once, 
the  rest  to  follow  in  three  weeks,  and  then  called  upon  Wash- 
mgton  to  supply  their  places  by  troops  from  the  south  of  Ilud- 


1777.    TIJE  ADVANCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA.     165 

eon  river,  saying  to  Lis  friends  that  one  southern  soldier  Mas 
wortli  two  from  New  England. 

On  the  twenty-second,  long  before  Burgo^Tie  was  ready  to 
advance,  Schuyler  retreated  to  a  position  four  miles  below  Fort 
Edward,     Here  ;!gain  he  complained  of  his  "  exposure  to  im- 
mediate ruin."     His  friends  urged  him  to  silence  the  grooving 
suspiciou  of  his  want  of  spirit;  he  answered:  "If  there  is  a 
battle,  I  shall  certainly  ex])ose  myself  more  than  is  prudent." 
To  the  Xew  York  council  of  safety  he  M-rote  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  :  "  I  mean  to  dispute  every  inch  of  ground  with  Bur- 
goyne,  and  retard  his  descent  as  long  as  possible ;"  and  in  less 
than  a  week,  without  disputing  anything,  he  retreated  to  Sara- 
toga, having  his  heart  set  on  a  position  at  the  junction  of  the 
Mohawk  and  Hudson.     The  courage  of  the  commander  being 
gone,  his  officers  and  his  army  became  spiritless.     From  Sara- 
toga, Schuyler,  on  the  first  of  August,  wrote  to  the  council  of 
safety  of  New  York ;  "  I  have  been  on  horseback  all  day  re- 
connoitring the  country  for  a  place  to  encamp  on  that  will 
give  us  a  chance  of  stopping  the  enemy's  career.     I  have  not 
yet  been  able  to  find  a  spot  that  has  the  least  prospect  of  an- 
swering the  purpose,  and  I  believe  you  will  soon  learn  that  wo 
are  retired  still  farther  south.    I  wish  that  I  could  say  that  the 
troops  under  my  connnand  were  in  good  spirits.     They  are 
quite   otherwise.     Under  these  circumstances  the  enemy  are 
acquiring  strength  and  advancing." 

On  the  fourth  of  August  he  sent  word  to  congress  that 
"  Burgoyne  is  at  Fort  Edward.  He  has  withdrawn  his  troops 
from  Castleton  and  is  bending  his  whole  force  this  way.  He 
will  obably  be  here  in  eiglit  days,  and,  unless  we  are  well 
reinforced,  as  much  farther  as  no  chooses  to  go." 

On  the  sixth,  Schuyler  writes  to  Governor  Clinton  of  New 
York :  "  The  enemy  will  soon  move,  and  our  strength  is  daily 
decreasing.  We  shall  again  be  obliged  to  decamp  and  retreat 
before  them."  And,  as  his  only  resource,  ho  solicited  aid 
from  Washington. 

The  loss  of  Ticondcroga  alarmed  the  patriots  of  New  York, 
j,^laddened  the  royalists,  and  fixed  the  wavering  Indians  as  ene- 
mies. Five  counties  were  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy; 
three  otJiers  suilered  fi-om  disunion  and  anarchy ;  Tryou  conn- 


s  i 


ii.mi 


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166    AMEPJCA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FKAXCE.    ep.  ir. ;  en.  sii. 

ty  implored  immediate  aid ;  the  militia  of  Westchester  were 
absorbed  in  their  own  defence;  in  the  other  counties  scarcely 
men  enough  remained  at  home  to  secm-o  the  plentiful  harvest 
Menaced  on  its  border  from  the  Susquehannah  to  Lake  Chani- 

}  !;?'  f  fi"?  ^'7^  ^'"^^  ""'^  *^°  ^^'''^'^'''  ^^^'''  York  became  the 
battle-field  for  the  life  of  the  young  repubhc;  its  council  sec- 
onded Schuyler  s  p  lyers  for  reinforcements. 

The  commander-in-chief,  in  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  had 
assigned  to  the  northern  department  more  than  its  share  of 
troops  and  resources;  and  had  added  one  brigade  ^v Inch  was 
beyond  the  agreement  and  of  which  he  stood  in  pressing  need 
lor  the  army  of  Howe  was  twice  or  thrice  as  numerous  as  that 
from  Canada.     In  this  time  of  perplexity,  when  the  comitry 
from  the  Hudson  to  Maryland  required  to  be  guarded,  the 
entreaties  from  Schuyler,  from  the  council  of  Kew  York,  and 
from  Jay  and  Gouverneur  Morris  as  deputies  of  that  council, 
poured  m  upon  AYashington.     Aiamed  by  Schuyler's  want  of 
fortitude,  he  ordered  to  the  north  Arnold,  who  was  fearlc.s, 
and  Lincoln,  who  was  acceptable  to  the  militia  of  the  eastern 
states,  and,  even  though  it  weakened  his  own  army  irretriev- 
ably,  still  one  more  brigade  of  excellent  continental  troops 
under  Glover.     To  hasten  the  rising  of  Kew  England,  ho 
wrote  du-ectly  to  the  brigadier-generals  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,  urging  them  to  nwch  for  Saratoga  with  at  least 
one  third  part  of  the  militia  under  their  command.     At  the 
same^  time  he  bade  Schuyler  "  never  despair,"  explaining  that 
the  forces  which  might  advance  under  Burgoyne  could  not 
much  exceed  live  thousand  men ;  that  they  must  garrison  every 
fortmed  post  left  behind  them;  that  their  progress  must  be 
delayed  by  their  baggage  and  artillery,  and  by  the  necessity  of 
cutting  new  roads  and  clearing  old  ones ;  that  a  party  should 
be  stationed  in  Vermont  to  keep  them  in  continual  ankiety  for 
their  rear;  that  Araold  should  go  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Stan- 
wix ;  that,  if  the  invaders  continued  to  act  in  detachments,  one 
vigorous  fall  upon  some  one  of  those  detachments  might  prove 
lata!  to  tlie  whole  expedition. 

^^  Li  a  like  spirit  he  expressed  to  the  council  of  Xew  York 
"  the  most  sensible  pleasure  at  the  exertions  of  the  stato,  dis- 
membered as  it  was,  and  under  every  discouragement  and  dis- 


1777.    THE  ADVANCE  OF  BURGOTXE  FROM  CANADA.    1G7 

advantage;"  tb.o  success  of  BurgoynCj  lie  predicted,  would  be 
temponu-^  ;  the  soutliern  states  could  not  be  asked  to  detail 
their  force,  since  it  was  all  needed  to  keep  Howe  at  bay ;  the 
attachment  of  the  eastern  states  to  the  cause  insured  their  activ- 
ity when  invoked  for  the  safety  of  a  sister  state,  of  themselves, 
of  the  continent ;  the  worst  effect  of  the  loss  of  Ticonderoga 
was  the  panic  which  it  produced  ;  calmly  considered,  the  expe- 
dition was  not  fonnidable ;  if  New  York  should  be  seasonal)ly 
seconded  by  its  eastern  neighbors,  Burgojoie  would  find  it 
equally  difficult  to  advance  or  to  retreat. 

All  this  while  Schuyler  continued  to  despond.  On  the  thir- 
tccntli  of  August  he  could  write  from  Stillwater  to  "VYashing- 
ton :  "  AYe  are  obliged  to  give  way  and  retreat  before  a  vastly 
superior  force,  daily  increasing  in  numbers,  and  which  will  be 
doubled  if  General  Burgoyne  reaches  Albany,  which  I  appre- 
hend AV'ill  be  very  soon ; "  and  the  next  day  he  moved  his  army 
to  the  first  island  in  the  niouth  of  the  Mohawk  river ;  and  at 
Albany  accepted  ajiplause  for  "the  wisdom  of  his  safe  re- 
treat." *  The  first  serious  blow  was  struck  by  the  husbandmen 
of  Tryon  county. 

Burgoyne,  on  his  return  to  London  in  1770,  had  censured 
Carleton  to  Germain  for  not  having  sent  by  Lake  Ontario  and 
the  Oswego  and  Mohawk  rivers  an  auxiliary  expedition,  which 
he  had  offered  to  lead.  Gennain  adopted  the  plan,  and  settled 
the  details  for  its  execution  chiefly  by  savages.  To  Carleton, 
whom  he  accused  of  "avoiding  to  employ  Indians,"  he  an. 
nounced  the  king's  "resolution  that  every  means  should  be 
employed  that  Providence  had  put  in  his  majesty's  hand  lor 
crushing  the  rebellion."  The  detachment  which  was  set  apart 
for  the  service  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Saint- 
Leger,  varying  from  the  schedule  of  Germain  in  its  constitu- 
ent parts  more  than  in  its  numbers,  exceeded  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  white  men.  "  The  Six  Nations  inclined  to  the 
rebels"  from  fear  of  being  finally  abandoned  by  the  king. 
The  Mohawks  could  not  rise  unless  they  were  willing  to 
leave  their  old  hunting-grounds;  the  Oneidas  were  friendly 
to  the  Americans ;  even  the  Senecas  were  hard  to  be  roused. 
Butler  at  Irondequat  assured  them  that  there  was  no  hiu- 
*  Address  of  men  of  Albany  to  Schuyler.     MS. 


!'   1 


it  I 


1  ..HI 


■'(^ 


ii' 


1G8    AMERICA   IX  ALLIANCE    WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  on.  rn. 

drance  in  the  war-path  ;  tliat  they  would  have  only  to  look  on 
and  see  Fort  Stan\vix  fall ;  and  for  seven  days  he  lavished 
largesses  on  the  fighting  men  and  on  their  wives  and  children 
tdl  "they  accepted  the  hatchet."  '^mt  much  short  of  one 
thousand  Indian  warriors,"  certainly  "more  than  eight  hun- 
dred," joined  tho  white  brigade  of  Saint-Leger.  In  addition 
to  these,  Hamilton,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Detroit,  in  obe- 
dience to  orders  from  the  secretary  of  state,  sent  out  fifteen 
sevpral  parties,  consisting  in  tlie  aggregate  of  .^^o  hundred  and 
eighty-nme  braves  with  thirty  white  officers  and  rangers,  to 
prowl  on  tlie  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 

Collecting  his  forces  as  he  advanced  from  Montreal  by  way 
of  Oswego,  Saint-Leger  on  the  third  of  August  came  near  the 
earrymg-place,  where  for  untold  ages  the  natives  had  borne 
their  bark  canoes  over  the  narrow  plain  that  divides  the  waters 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  from  those  of  the  Hudson.  Fort  Stan- 
wix  proved  to  be  well  constructed,  safe  by  earthworks  against 
artillery,  and  garrisoned  by  six  or  seven  hundred  men  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Gansevocrt.  A  messenger  from  Brant's 
sister  brought  word  that  General  Nicholas  Herkimer  and  the 
mihtia  of  Tryon  county  were  marching  to  its  relief.  A  plan 
was  made  to  lay  for  them  an  ambush  of  savages. 

During  tlie  evening  the  savages  filled  the  woods  with  yells. 
1  he  next  morning,  having  laid  aside  their  blankets  and  robes 
of  fur,  they  all  went  out,  naked,  or  clad  only  in  hunting-shirts 
armed  with  spear,  tomahawk,  and  musket,  and  supported  by 
bir  John  Johnson  and  royal  Yorkers,  by  Colonel  Butler  and 
rangers,  by  Claus  and  Canadians,  and  by  Lieutenant  Bird  and 
regulars. 

The  freeholders  of  the  Mohawk  valley,  most  of  them  with 
the  sons  of  Germans  from  the  palatinate  for  ofiicers,  seven  or 
eiglit  hundred  in  number,  misinformed  as  to  the  strcn-th 
ot  the  besieging  party,  marched  carelessly  through  the  wotd 
About  an  hour  before  noon,  when  they  were  within  six  miles 
ot  the  foi-t,  their  van  entered  the  ambuscade.  They  were 
snrprised  in  front  by  Johnson  and  his  Yorkers,  while  the  In- 
dians attacked  their  flanks  with  fury,  and,  after  using  their 
muskets  rushed  in  with  their  tomahawks.  The  patriots  fell 
back  without  confusion  to  better  gromid,  and  renewed  the  fight 


I  ' 


nr. 


1777.     THE   ADVANCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA.    109 

agninst  superior  numbers.  There  was  no  chance  for  tactics  in 
this  battle  of  the  vnlderness.  Small  parties  fought  from  be- 
hind trees  or  fallen  logs ;  or  the  white  man,  bom  on  the  banks 
of  the  Mohawk,  wrestled  single-handed  with  the  Seneca  war- 
rior, like  himself  the  child  of  the  soil.  Herkimer  was  badly 
wounded  below  the  knee ;  but  he  remained  on  the  ground, 
giving  orders  to  the  end.  Thomas  Spencer  died  the  death  of 
a  hero.  The  battle  raged  for  at  least  an  hour  and  a  half,  when 
the  Americans  repulsed  their  assailants,  but  M-ith  the  loss  of 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty,  lulled,  wounded,  or  taken,  of  the 
best  men  of  Avestern  New  York.  The  savages  fought  with 
wild  valor;  throe-and-thirty  or  more,  among  them  the  chief 
warrioi-s  of  the  Senecas,  lay  dead  beneath  the  trees ;  about  as 
many  more  were  badly  wounded.  Of  the  Yorkers  one  captain, 
of  the  rangers  two  were  killed.  What  number  of  privates  fell 
is  not  told.  The  Eritish  loss,  including  savages  and  wliite 
men,  was  probably  about  one  hundred. 

Three  men  having  crossed  the  morass  into  Fort  Stouwix 
to  announce  the  api)roach  of  Herkimer,  by  Gansevoort's  order 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  half  of  New  York,  half  of  Massa- 
chusetts, under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marinus  Willett,  made  a 
sally  in  the  direction  of  Oriska.  They  passed  through  the 
quarters  of  the  Yorkers,  the  rangei-s,  and  the  savages,  driving 
before  them  whites  and  Indians,  chiefly  squaws  auvl  children, 
capturing  Sir  John  Johnson's  papers,  five  British  flags,  the 
fur-robes  and  new  blankets  and  kettles  of  the  Indians,  and 
four  prisoners.  Learning  from  them  the  check  to  Herkimer, 
tlie  party  of  Willett  returned  quickly  to  Fort  Stanwix,  bearing 
their  spoils  on  their  shoulders.  The  five  captured  colors  were 
displayed  under  the  continental  flag ;  it  ^vas  the  first  time  that 
a  captured  banner  had  floated  under  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the 
republic.  The  Indians  were  frantic  at  the  loss  of  their  chiefs 
and  wa'-riors ;  they  suffered  in  the  chill  niglits  from  the  loss  of 
their  clothes ;  and  not  even  the  torturing  and  killing  their  cap- 
tives in  which  they  were  indulged  could  prevent  their  begin- 
ning to  return  home. 

Meantime,  Willett,  with  Lieutenant  Stockwell  as  his  com- 
panion, "both  good  woodsmen,"  made  their  way  past  the 
Indian  quarter,  at  the  luu:ard  of  death  by  torture,  and  at  their 


M 


ii 


170    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANC":   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. 


en.  XII, 


Hi! 


i|i'< 


request  Sclmyler  charged  Arnold  with  an  expedition  to  relievo 
the  garrison.  Long  before  its  approach  an  Indian  ran  into 
Saint-Leger's  canij),  reporting  that  a  thousand  men  were  coin- 
ing against  them ;  another  followed,  doubling  the  number ;  a 
third  brought  a  rumor  that  three  thousand  men  were  close  at 
hand ;  and,  deaf  to  remonstrances  and  entreaties  from  their 
fiuperintcndeuts  and  from  Saint-Leger,  the  wild  warriors  robbed 
the  r.riti.-h  ollicei-s  of  their  clothes,  plundered  the  boats,  and 
made  oil"  with  the  booty.  Saint-Leger  in  a  panic,  though  Ar- 
nold was  not  within  forty  miles,  hurried  after  them  before 
nightfall,  leaving  his  tents,  artillery,  and  stores. 

It  was  Herkimer  who  "  first  reversed  the  gloomy  scene  " 
of  the  northern  cmnpaign.  The  pure-minded  iiero  of  the  Mo- 
hawk valley  "served  from  lo\e  of  country,  not  for  reward. 
He  did  not  want  a  continental  command  or  money."  Before 
congress  had  decided  how  to  manifest  their  gratitude  he  died 
of  his  wound;  and  they  decreed  him  a  monument.  Ganse- 
voort  was  rewarded  by  a  vote  of  thanks  and  a  command ;  Wil- 
lett,  by  public  praise  and  "  an  elegant  sword." 

The  employment  of  Indian  allies  had  failed.  The  king, 
the  ministry,  and,  in  due  time,  tne  British  parliament,  were 
infonned  ofiicially  that  the  red  men  "  treacherously  committed 
ravages  upon  their  friends ; "  that  "  they  could  not  be  con- 
trolled;" that  "they  killed  their  captives;"  that  "there  was 
infinite  difficulty  to  manage  them;"  that  "they  grew  more  and 
more  unreasonable  and  importunate."  When  the  Seneca  war- 
rioi-s,  returning  to  their  lodges,  told  the  story  of  the  slaughter 
of  their  chiefs,  their  villages  i  dug  with  yells  of  rage  and  the 
howls  of  mourners. 

Burgoyne,  who  on  the  thirtieth  of  July  made  his  head-quar- 
tei-s  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  had  detachments  from  seven- 
teen savage  nations.  A  Jjrunswick  officer  describes  them  as 
"  tall,  warlike,  and  enterprising,  but  fiendishly  wicked."  On 
the  third  of  August  they  brought  in  twenty  scalps  and  as 
many  captives;  and  Burgoyne  approved  their  incessant  ac- 
tivity. To  prevent  desertions  of  soldiers,  it  was  announced 
in  orders  to  each  regiment  that  the  savages  were  enjoined  to 
scalp  every  runaway.  The  Ottawas  longed  to  go  home  ;  but, 
on  the  fifth  of  August,  Burgoyne  took  from  all  his  red  warri- 


or; Jj    , 


1777.  THE  ADVANCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FROM  CANADA,  in 

ore  a  pledge  to  stay  through  the  campaign.  On  tlie  sixth  he 
reported  himself  to  General  Howe  as  "  well  forward,"  "  impor 
tient  to  gain  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk,"  but  not  likely  to  "  be 
in  possession  of  Albany"  before  "the  twenty-second  or  the 
twenty-third  "  of  the  month. 

To  aid  Saint-Lcger  by  a  diversion,  and  fill  his  camp  with 
draught  cattle,  horses,  and  provisions  from  fabled  magazines 
at  Bennington,  J^urgoyne  on  the  eleventh  of  August  sJnt  out 
an  expedition  on  the  left,  commanded  by  Baum,  a  Brunswick 
lieutenant-colonel  of  dragoons,  and  composed  of  more  than 
four  hundred  l]runs\\iekers,  Ilunau  artillerists  with  two  cannon, 
the  select  corps  of  British  marksmen,  a  party  of  French  Cana- 
dians, a  more  numerous  party  of  provincial  royalists,  and  a 
horde  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians.     Burgoyne  in 
his  eagerness  rode  after  J]aum,  and  gave  him  verbal  Orders  to 
march   directly  upon   Bennington.    After  disposing  of  the 
stores  at  that  place,  he  might   cross  the   Green  Mountains, 
descend  the  Co.mecticut  river  to  Brattleborough,  and  enter 
Albany  with  Saint-Legcr  and  the  main  array.     The  niglit  of 
the  thirteenth,  Baum  encamped  about  four  miles  horn  Ben- 
nington, on  a  hill  that   rises  from  the  Walloomscoick,  just 
within  the  state  of  New  York.     When,  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  fourteenth,  a  reconnoitring  party  of  Americans  was  seen, 
he  wrote  m  high  spirits  for  more  troops,  and  constructed  strong 
mtrenchments.     Burgojme  sent  him   orders  to  maintain   his 
post ;  and,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  fifteenth,  Breymann,  a  Bnms- 
wick   lieutenant-colonel,  with   two  Bnmswick  battalions  and 
two  cannon,  marched,  in  a  constant  rain,  through  thick  woods 
to  his  sujiport.  ' 

The  legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  in  the  middle  of  July, 
receiving  the  supplicatory  letter  from  Vermont,  promptly  re- 
solved to  co-operate  ''with  the  troops  of  the  new  state,"  and 
ordered  Stark,  with  a  brigade  of  militia,  "to  stop  the  progress 
of  the  enemy  on  their  western  frontier."  Uprising  at  the  call, 
the  men  of  New  Hampshire  flew  to  his  standard,  which  he  set 
up  at  Charlestown,  on  the  Connecticut  river.  Schuyler  ordered 
them  to  join  his  retreating  army,  and,  because  they  chose  to 
follow  tlieir  own  wise  plans,  Schuyler  brought  upon  Stark  the 
censure  of  congress  for  disobedience.     But  the  ui)right  hero. 

VOL.   V. — 13  IB"  "^*"j 


111 


.   M 


1^^ 


■iiiii 


172    AMERICA   IN   ALLIAN(M':  WITH   TRANCE,    kimv.  ;  oif.  xir. 


i     .  '. 


consulting  witli  Seth  Warner  of  Vermont,  mado  liis  l)ivouac 
on  tho  fourtoonth  of  August  at  tlii'  distance  of  a  mile  from  the 
post  of  J*aum,  to  whom  he  vainly  otlered  hattle.  The  re;j^iment 
of  Warner  came  down  frou)  iMancliester  during  the  rain  (»f 
tho  fifteenth  ;  and  tr(K)ps  arrived  from  the  westernmost  county 
of  Massachusetts. 

When  the  sun  rose  on  the  sixteenth,  Stark  concerted  with 
his  officers  the  plan  for  the  day.  JJaum,  seeing  small  bands  of 
men,  in  shirtsleeves  and  carrying  fowling-pieces  without  bayo- 
nets, steal  behind  his  camp,  mi.stook  tbem  for  friendly  country 
people  placing  themselves  when;  he  could  protect  them ;  and 
60  five  hnndred  men  under  Nichols  and  Herrick  united  in  his 
rear.  AVhilo  liis  attention  was  arrested  by  a  feint,  two  hun- 
dred more  posted  tliemselves  on  his  right ;  and  Stark,  witli 
two  or  three  hundred,  took  the  front.  At  three  o'clock  Bourn 
was  attacked  on  every  side.  The  Indians  dashed  between  two 
detachments  and  fled,  leaving  their  grand  chief  and  other  war- 
riors lifeless  on  the  field.  Ts'cnv  England  sharjishooters  ran  up 
within  eight  yards  of  the  loaded  cannon,  to  ])lck  oif  the  can- 
noneers. When,  after  about  two  hours,  the  firing  of  the  Bruns- 
wickers  slackened  from  scarcity  of  powder,  the  Americana 
scaled  the  breastwork  and  fought  them  hand  to  hand.  Baum 
ordered  his  infantry  with  the  bayonet,  his  dragoons  with  their 
sabres,  to  force  a  way ;  but  in  tlie  attempt  he  fell  mortally 
wounded,  and  his  veteran  troops  surrendered. 

Just  then  the  battalions  of  Breymann,  having  taken  thirty 
hours  to  march  twenty -four  miles,  came  in  sight.  Warner  now 
first  brought  up  his  regiment,  of  one  huiulred  and  fifty  men, 
into  action  ;  and  with  their  aid  Stark  began  a  new  attack,  using 
the  cannon  just  taken.  The  figlit  raged  till  sunset,  when  Brey- 
mann, abandoning  his  artillery  and  most  of  his  wounded  men, 
ordered  a  retreat.  The  pursuit  continued  till  night ;  those  who 
escaped  owed  their  safety  to  the  darkness.  During  the  day 
less  than  thirty  of  the  Americans  were  killed,  and  about  forty 
were  wounded  ;  the  loss  of  their  enemy  was  estimated  at  full 
twice  as  many,  besides  at  least  six  hundred  and  ninety-two 
prisoners,  of  whom  more  than  four  hundred  were  Germans. 

This  victory,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  eventful  of  tho 
war,  was  achieved  spontaneously  by  tlie  husbandmen  of  New 


J 
i 


1777.     THE  ADVAXCE  OF  BURGOYNE  FKOM  CANADA.     Ijy 

Ilampsliire,  Vermont,  aiul  western 
confirms  tlie  reports  of  llesskii  oflic 


i^fassacliusetts.  Stiirk  only 
when  be  writes:  "IJad 
rieses  of  Sweden,  they 


our  people   been  Alexanders  or 
could  not  have  behaved  better." 

At  tlic  news  of  ih-eynianii's  retreat,  Bur^/ojne  ordered  his 
army  under  ai-ms;  and  id  the  head  of  the  forty-seventh  rcM- 
ment  he  forded  tbe  IJattenkill,  to  meet  tbe  worn-out  fu^dtives 
The  loss  of  troo])s  was  irreparable.  C  .nadians  and  Indimis 
of  the  remoter  nations  began  to  leave  in  disgust.  For  hui>- 
phes,  Jhirgoyne  was  thrown  back  ui)on  shipments  from  Eng- 
land, painfully  forwarded  from  Quebec  by  way  of  Lake  Oham- 
plam  and  Lake  George  to  the  Hudson  river.  Before  he 
could  move  forward  he  must,  with  small  means  of  transporta- 
tion, bring  together  stores  for  thirty  days,  and  drag  nearly  two 
hundred  boats  over  two  long  carry ing-j) laces. 

On  the  first  of  August  congress  relieved  Schuyler  from 
command  by  a  vote  to  whieh  there  M'as  no  negative ;  and  on  the 
fourth  eleven  states  elected  Gates  his  successor.  Before  Gates 
assumed  the  connnaud.  Fort  Stan\\ix  was  safe  and  the  victory 
of  Lenmngton  achieved  ;  yet  congress  hastened  to  vote  him  all 
the  powers  and  all  the  aid  which  Schuyler  in  his  moods  of  de- 
spondency had  entreated.  Touched  by  the  ringing  appeals  of 
^^  ashmgton,  thousands  of  the  men  of  Massachusetts,  even  from 
the  counties  of  Middlesex  and  Essex,  were  in  motion  toward 
Saratoga       Congress,   ovc  Washington's   advice,  gave 

Schuyler  s  successor  plea    ,       v  make  further  requisi- 

tions for  militia  on  New         .  Tersey,  and  Pennsyl- 

vama.     A\  ashmgton  had  cu  troops  fire  hundred 


riflemen,  and  formed  them  un. 


nto  a  better  co'.ps  of 


slunnishers  than  had  ever  been  atvached  to  an  anny  even  in 
Europe  ;  congress  directed  them  to  bo  forthwith  sent  to  assist 
Gates  agamst  the  Indians;  and  AVashington  obeyed  so  prompt- 
ly that  the  order  might  seem  to  have  been  anticij)ated. 

As  for  Schuy]  r,  he  proffered  his  services  to  the  general  by 
whom  he  was  superseded,  heartily  wished  him  succe  ,s,  and  soon 
learned  to  "  justify  congress  for  depriving  him  of  tlie  command, 
convinced  that  it  was  their  duty  to  sacrifice  the  feehngs  of  an 
individual  to  the  safety  of  the  states  when  the  peojde  who  only 
could  defend  the  countiy  refused  to  serve  under  him  '' 


'I 


^1 


lU    AMKKICA    IN    AM.IANCK   WITFI    FRANCK, 


KP.  'V. :  on.  xn. 


f   !l 


I  •     .   ! 


!     ■  *:   I 


•a 


l!i;ln 


CHAPTER  XI IT. 

PROOUKSS   OK   sru   WILLIAM    HOWK   AND   IlUUaOYNE. 

July-Ootohkr  2(\  1777. 

A  Pornr  arose  wliotlicr  Wasliin^rto,,  ivtaiiiod  auH.ority  ov.^r 
the  nc'\.   •Iiit.f  of  the  iiortiiern  (lej.artmc-iil  till  coii^nvss  dcelarcc: 
that  "tJu.y  neve-  inteiulod  to  siiiK-rsclc  or  drcumscri))o  lii^ 
power;"  but,  from  an  umvillln^nicss  to  confess  their  own  mis- 
takes, from  tlie  ])ri(le  of  authority  and  jealousy  of  his  superior 
popidarity,  tliey  sli;,ri,t,.,i  liis  advice  and  ne<,d'eeted  liis  wants. 
They  remodelled   the  eonnnissary  department  in  the   ni.dst 
of  the  eampai^ni  on  ;■  system  which  no  competent  men  would 
nndertake  to   execute.     Washington,  strivin-   for  an   army, 
raised  and  ofHrered  by  the  United  States,  "used  every  nuums 
HI  his  po^^er  to  destroy  state  distinction  in  it,  and  to  have 
every  part  and  parcel  of  it  considered  as  continental;"  congress 
more  and  more  reserved  to  the  states  the  recruiting  of  men, 
iind  the  appc.intment  of  all  but  oeneral  ollicers.     Political  and 
pei-sonal  considerations  controlled  the  nomination  of  oIKcers  • 
ami  congress  }.  d  not  vig.M-  enough  to  drop  the  incapable.' 
Iho  wearisome  wrangles  for  rank,"  and  the  numerous  com- 
missions given  to  foreign  adventurers  of  extravagant  preten- 
sions, made  the  army  -a  just  representation  of  a  great  chaos" 
A  reacting ''spirit  of  reformation  "  was  at  first  e.pially  undis- 
eernmg;  Kalb  and  Lafayette,  arriving  at  Philadelphia  near  the 
end  ot  July,  met  with  a  repulse.     AVlien  it  was  told  that  La- 
fayette desirod  no  more  than  leave  to  risk  his  life  in  the  cause 
o   liberty  ^^  chout  pension  or  all.nvance,  congress  gave  him  the 
rank  of  major-general,  and  Washington  received  him  into  Jiis 
family ;  but  at  lirst  the  claim  of  Kalb  was  rejected. 


1777. 


IIDWK     ;NTEKS   PlIILADJai'illA. 


175 


I  Hon, 


3rs ; 


On  tlu!  iiftli  of  ,Ti)ly,  fitjtieral  Howe,  Inuviiig  more  than 
suvc'ii  iv^riniciits  ill  Iil„„|n  Islimd,  aiid  nlxnit  hIx  tliou.suud  men 
imuorSir  Henry  C'llnton  iit  New  Yorl:,  begun  to  enil;ark  tho 
umin  body  of  his  uriny  for  a  joint  expedition  with  the  naval 
force  against  Philadelpliia.    The  troojw,  ahke  foot  and  eavah-y, 
were  kept  waiting  on  Hlii|)board  till  tlu!  twenty-third.     The 
Heet  of  nearly  thi-ee  hnndred  sail  spent  seven  days  hi  beating 
from  Sandy  llcok  to  the  capes  of  Delaware.     Findino   the 
Delaware  river  oi.strnctcd,  it  steered  for  the  Chesapeake, Tabor- 
nig  against  the  sontherly  winds  of  the  season,     Au-nist  wa^i 
half  gone  when  it  tnrned  Cape  Charles ;  and  on  the  twenty-iifth 
after  a  voyage  of  thirty-three  days,  it  anchored  in  Elk  river  six 
miles  below  KlktMvn  and  iilty^fonr  niHes  from  Philadelphia. 

Exi)ressing  the  strange  reasoning  and  opinions  of  many 
of  luo  colleagnes,  John  Adams,  the  liead  of  the  board  of  war 
conld  write:  "  We  shall  rake  and  scrape  cv...Th  to  do  Howe's 
business;   the  continental   army  under    ^Vasliington   is  more 
numerous  by  several  thousands  than  Howe's  whole  force ;  the 
enemy  give  out  that  tliey  are  eighteen  thousand  strong,  but 
Ave  know  better,  and  that  they  have  not  ten  thousand.     Wash- 
ington is  very  prnd(-it;  I  sh(juld  put  more  to  risk,  were  I  in 
his  shoes;  I  am  sick  of  Fabian  systems.    My  toast  is,  a  short 
and  violent  war."    Now  at  that  time  the  anny  of  Howe,  apart 
from  the  coi-ps  of  engineers,  counted,  at  the  lowest  statements, 
seventeen  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  men,  with 
officers  amounting  to  one  fifth  as  mariy  more,  all  soldiers  by 
profession  antl  ])erfcctly  oqui])i)ed. 

Congress  gave  itself  the  air  of  efficiency  by  calling  out  the 
militia  of  Maryland,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey ; 
but  New  Jersey  had  to  watch  the  force  on  the  Hudson ;  the 
slaveholders  on  the  Maryland  eastern  shore  and  in  the  southern 
county  of  Delaware  were  dis.'tffected ;  the  Pemsylvania  militia 
wxth  \Vaslungton  did  not  exceed  twelve  hundred  men,  and 
never  increased  beyond  twenty-five  hundred. 
^  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  Washington  led  the  con- 
tinental  army,  decorated  with  sprays  of  green,  through  the 
crowded  streets  of  PhiLvdelphia ;  the  next  day  he  reachc'i  Wil- 
imngton  just  as  the  British  anchored  in  the  Elk  with  the  pur- 
pose of  inarching  upon  Philadelphia  by  an  easy  inland  route 


II 


i(.- 


in 

•  I  1 

1  1  K 

■P 

d 

i:|  ! 

i' 

\ 

MM 

um 

m 

17G      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. :  on.  xiir. 


1  M 


fSiJ-    r 


't  i"'      f 


thnnigli  an  open  country  wliicli  liad  no  difficult  passes,  no 
rivers  but  fordable  ones,  and  was  inhabited  chiefly  by  royah'sts 
and  Quakers.  Wlien  Sullivan,  who  had  just  lost  two  liundred 
of  the  very  best  men  in  a  senseless  expedition  to  Staten  Island, 
brought  up  his  division,  the  American  army,  which  advanced 
to  the  highlands  beyond  Wilmington,  was  not  more  than  half 
Jis  numerous  as  the  British ;  but  Howe,  from  the  waste  of 
horses  on  lus  lung  voyage,  was  comi)elled  to  wait  till  others 
could  be  provided. 

On  the  third  of  September  the  two  divisions  under  Corn- 
wallis   and   Ivnyphausen   began  the  march  toward   Philadel- 
phia;  Elaxwell  and  the  light  troops,  composed  of  drafts  of 
one  hundred  men  from  each  brigade,  occupied  Iron  Hill,  and, 
after  a  sharp  skirmish  in  the  woods  with  a  body  of  German 
yagers  and  light  infantry,  withdrew  slowly  and  in  perfect  or- 
der.    For  two  days  longer  Howe  waited,  to  provide  for  his 
wounded  men  in  the  hospital-ship  of  the  fleet,  and  purchase 
still  more  means  of  transportation.     Four  miles  from   him, 
AVashington  took  [)ost  behind  Red  Clay  creek,  and  invited  an 
attack.    On  the  eighth,  Howe  sent  a  strong  column  in  front  of 
the  Americans  to  f(M"gn  an  attack',  while  his  main  army  halted 
at  MilltoAvn.     Tlie  Ih-itish  and  Germans  M^nt  to  rest  in  full 
confidence  of  turning  Washington's  right  on  the  morrow,  and 
cutting  him  off  from  the  road  to  Lancaster.     But  Washitigton 
had  divined  their  purpose,  and,  by  a  masterly  and  really  secret 
movement,  took  post  on  the  high  grounds  above  Chad's  ford 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Bi-andywiue,  directly  in  Howe's  ])ath. 
The  baggage  of  the  army  was  sent  forward  to  Chester.     A 
battery  of  cannon  with  a  good  parapet  guarded  the  ford.    The 
American  left,  resting  on  a  thick,  continuous  forest  along  the 
Brandywine,  which  hvlnw  Chad's  ford  becomes  a  rapid,  cncura- 
Itered  by  rocks  aiul  shut  in  l)y  abrupt  high  banks,  was  suifi- 
cicntly  defended  by  Armstrong  and  the  Pennsylvania  militia, 
On  the  riglit  tlie  river  was  hidden  by  thick  woods  and  the 
unevenness  of  the  country ;  to  Sullivan  was  assigned  the  duty 
of  taking  "  every  necessary  precaution  for  the  security  of  that 
flank ;  "  and  the  six  brigades  of  his  connnand,  consisting  of  tlic 
divisions  of  Stirling,  of  Stei)hen,  and  his  own,  were  stationed 
in  echelons  alonir  the  river. 


1777. 


HOWE  ENTEPwS  PIIU.ADELPIIIA. 


177 


I 


On  tlie  tenth  the  two  divisions  of  the  British,  led  respect- 
ively hy  Kiiypliiuisen  and   Cornwallis,  foi-ined  a  junction  at 
Kennet  Scpiare.     At  iive  the  next  morning  more  tiian  half 
of  Howe's  forces,  leavinj^  their  baggage  even  to  their  knap- 
sacks beliiud  them,  and  led  by  trusty  guides,  marclied  under 
the  general  and  Cornwallis  up  the  Great  Valley  road  to  cross 
the  Brandywine  at  its  forks.     About  ten  o'clock  Knyphausen 
with  his  coluum,  coming  upon  the  river  at  Chad's  ford,  seven 
miles  lower  down,  halted  and  began  a  long  cannonade,  mani- 
festing no  purpose  of  forcing  the  passage.     AVashington  had 
"certain"'  information  of  the  movement  of  Howe,  and   re- 
solved to  strike  at  once  at  the  division  in  his  front,  which  was 
less  than  half  of  the  British  ami_y,  and  was  encumbered  with 
the  baggage  of  tlie  whole.     As  Washington  rode  up  and  down 
his  lines  the  shouts  of  his  men  witnessed  their  confidence,  and 
as  he  spoke  to  them  in  cheerng  words  they  clamored  for  bat- 
tle.    Sending  orders  to  Sullivan  to  cross  the  Brandywine  at  a 
higher  ford,  prevent  the  hasty  return  of  the  body  with  Howe 
and  Cornwallis,  and  threaten  the  left  flank  of  Ivnypliausen, 
Washington  put  his  troops  in  motion.     Greene  with  the  ad- 
vance was  at  the  river's  edge  and  about  to  begin  the  attack, 
when  a  message  came  from  Sullivan  announcing  that  he  had 
disol)eyed  his  orders,  that  the  "  information  on  which  these 
orders  were  founded  nuist  be  wronff." 

The  information  on  which  they  rested  was  precisely  cor- 
rect ;  but  the  failure  of  Sullivan  overthrew  the  design,  which 
for  success  required  swiftness  of  execution.  After  the  loss  of 
two  hours,  word  was  brought  that  the  division  of  Cornwallis 
had  passed  the  forks  arid  was  coming  down  Avitli  the  intent  to 
turn  the  American  right.  On  the  instant  Sullivan  was  ordered 
to  confront  the  advance.  Lord  Stirhng  and  Sleiihen  posted 
their  troops  in  two  lines  on  a  rounded  eminence  south-west  of 
Birmingham  meeting-house,  \vhile  Sullivan,  who  should  have 
gone  to  their  right,  marched  his  division  ])eyond  their  extreme 
left,  leaving  a  gap  of  a  half-mile  between  them,  so  that  he 
could  render  no  service,  and  was  exposed  to  be  cut  off.  The 
general  officers,  whom  he  "  i-ode  on  to  consult,"  explained  to 
him  that  the  right  of  his  wing  was  unprotected.  Upon  this, 
he  began  to  march  ]m  divlsiuu  to  his  proper  place.     The  Brit- 


I  4 


t  1 


ill 


Miff 


l\ 


178     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  ch.  xiix. 


ill!l 


UU  I 


!.   'I 


ish  troops,  ^vliich  1)elield  tins  movement  as  tliey  lay  at  rest  for 
a  full  Lour  after  their  long  march  in  the  hot  day,  were  led  to 
the  attack  before  he  could  form  his  hue.     Ilis  division,  badly 
conducted,  fled  without  their  artillery,  and  could  not  be  rallied. 
Their  flight  exposed  the  flank  of  Stirling  and  Stephen.    These 
two  divisions,  only  half  as  mmierons  as  their  assailants,  in  spite 
of  the  "  unotiicerlike  behavior"  of  Stephen,  fought  in  good 
earnest,  using  their  artillery  from  a  distance,  their  muskets 
only  when  their  enemy  was  within  forty  paces ;  but  under  the 
charge  of  the  Hessians  and  British  grenadiers,  who  vied  with 
each  other  in  fury  as  they  ran  forward  with  the  bayonet,  the 
American  line  continncd  to  break  from  the  right.     Conway's 
brigade  resisted  well;  Sidhvan  showed  personal  courage ;  La- 
fayette, present  as  a  volunteer,  though  wounded  in  the  leg 
while  rallying  the  fugitives,  bound  up  the  wound  as  he  could, 
and  kept  the  field  till  the  close  of  the  battle.     The  third  Vir- 
ginia regiment,  commanded  by  Marshall  and  stationed  apart  in 
a  wood,  held  out  till  both  its  flanks  were  turned  and  half  its 
oflacera  and  one  third  its  men  were  killed  or  Avounded. 

Howe  seemed  likely  to  get  in  th<)  rear  of  the  continental 
army  and  complete  its  overthrow.  But,  at  the  sound  of  the 
cannon  on  the  right,  "Washington,  taking  with  him  Greene  and 
the  two  brigades  of  Muhlenburg  and  Weedon,  which  lay  near- 
est the  scene  of  action,  moved  swiftly  to  the  support  of  the 
wing  that  had  been  coniided  to  Sulli\an,  and  in  about  forty 
miimtes  met  them  in  full  retreat.  His  approach  checked  the 
pursuit.  Cautiously  making  a  ncAv  arrangement  of  his  forces, 
Howe  again  jmslied  forward,  driving  the  party  with  Greene 
till  they  came  upon  a  strong  ])osition,  chosen  hy  Washington, 
which  completely  commanded  the  road,  and  which  a  regiment 
of  Virginians  under  Stevens  and  another  of  Peimsylvanians 
under  Stewart  were  able  to  hold  till  nio-htfall. 

In  the  heat  of  the  engagement  the  division  with  Knyphau- 
sen  crossed  the  Brandywine  in  one  body  at  Chad's  ford.  The 
left  -wnng  of  the  Americans,  under  the  conmiand  of  Wayne, 
defended  their  intrencliments  against  an  attack  in  front ;  but 
when,  near  the  close  of  the  day,  a  strong  detachment  threat- 
ened their  rear,  they  made  a  well-ordered  retreat,  and  were  not 
pursued. 


1777. 


HOWE  ENTERS  PHILADELPHIA. 


179 


Niglit  wtis  falling,  when  two  battalions  of  British  grena- 
diers under  Meadow  and  Monckton  received  orders  to  occmrr 
a  cluster  of  houses  on  a  hill  beyond  Dilworth.  They  marched 
carelessly,  the  officers  with  sheathed  swords.  At  fifty  paces 
from  the  first  house  they  were  surprised  by  a  deadly  fire  from 
MaxweU's  corps,  which  lay  in  ambush  to  cover  the  American 
retreat.  The  British  officers  sent  for  help,  but  were  nearly 
routed  before  General  Aguew  could  bring  r,  ef.  Tlic  Ameri- 
cans then  witlidrew,  and  darkness  ended  the  contest. 

At  midnight,  "Washington  from  Chester  seized  the  first 
moment  of  respite  to  report  to  congress  liis  dcfeiit,  making  no 
excuses,  casting  blame  on  no  one,  not  even  alluding  to  the  dis- 
parity of  forces,  but  closing  with  cheering  words.  His  losses, 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  were  about  one  thousand,' 
less  rather  than  more.  Except  the  severely  wounded  few 
prisoners  wore  taken.  A  howitzer  and  ten  cannon,  among 
thena  two  Hessian  field-pieces  captured  at  Trenton,  were  left 
on  the  field.  Several  of  the  French  officers  behaved  with  great 
gallantry:  Mauduit  Duplessis ;  Lewis  de  Fleury,  whose  horse 
was  shot  under  him  and  whose  merit  congress  recognised  by 
vote;  Lafayette,  of  whom  "Washington  said  to  the  surgeon: 
"  Take  care  of  him  as  though  he  were  my  son."  Pulaski  the 
Pole,  who  on  that  day  showed  the  daring  of  adventure  rather 
I  ban  the  quuhties  of  a  commander,  was  created  a  brigadier  of 
cavalry. 

The  loss  of  the  British  army  in  killed  and  wounded  was  at 
least  five  hundred  and  seventy-nine,  of  whom  fifty-eight  were 
otKcers.  Of  the  Hessian  officers,  Ewald  and  Wreden  received 
from  the  elector  a  military  order.  Howe  showed  his  usual 
courage  under  fire ;  but  nightfall,  the  want  of  cavahy,  and  the 
extreme  fatigue  of  his  army,  forbade  pursuit. 

When  congress  heard  of  the  defeat  at  the  Bi-andywine,  it 
directed  Putnam  to  send  fifteen  hundred  continental  troups 
to  the  commander-in-chief  with  all  possible  ex])edition,  and 
sumnioned  coLtinental  trooj^  and  militia  from  Maryland  and 
Yirginia.  The  militia  of  mw  Jersey  were  kept  at  home  by 
a  triple  raid  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  The  assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania, rent  by  faction,  chose  this  moment  to  change  nearly 
all  its  ddegates  in  congress.     The  people  along  Howe's  route, 


i': ,. ,  f^ 


ir;J 


180      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ek  iv. ;  en.  xm. 

being  largely  Quakers,  were  friendly  or  passive.     Negro  slaves 
prayed  for  lus  success,  hoping  "that,  if  the  British  power 
BhoxM  be  victorious,  all  the  negro  slaves  would  become  free." 
Waslungton,  who  had  marched  from  Chester  to  German- 
town  atter  having  supplied  his  men  with  provisions  and  forty 
rounds  of  cartridges,  recrossed  the  Schuylkill  to  confront  once 
more  the  anny  of  Howe,  who  had  been  detained  near  the 
Lrandywme  till  he  could  send  his  wounded  to  Wilmino-fon 
Ihe  two  chiefs  marched  toward  Goshen.     On  the  sixteenth' 
-Uonoi)  and  his  yagers,  who  pressed  forward  too  rapidly,  were 
encountered  by  Wayne ;  but,  before  the  battle  became  general 
a  furious  rain  set  in,  which  continued  all  the  next  night:  and 
the  American  army,  as,  from  the  poor  quahty  of  their  accou- 
trements, their  cartridges  were  drenched,  were  obliged  to  re- 
tire to  replenish  their  ammunition. 

It  was  next  the  purpose  of  the  British  to  turn  Washincr. 
tons  right,  so  as  to  shut  him  up  between  the  rivers;  but  he 
took  care  to  hold  the  roads  to  the  south  as  well  as  to  the  north 
and  west.  Late  on  the  eighteenth  Alexander  Hamilton,  who 
was  ordered  to  Philadelphia  to  secure  military  stores,  gave 
congress  notice  of  immediate  danger;  and  its  members,  few 
111  number,  fled  in  the  night  to  meet  at  Lancaster. 

When  on  the  nineteenth,  the  American  army  passed 
through  the  Schuylkill  at  Parker's  ford,  Wayne  was  left  with 
a  large  body  of  troops  to  fall  upon  any  detached  party  of 
Howe  s  ai-my  On  the  night  following  the  twentieth,  just  .u. 
he  had  called  up  his  men  to  make  a  junction  with  another 
American  party,  Major-General  Grey  of  the  British  army,  with 
three  regiments,  broke  in  upon  them  by  surprise,  and,  using 
the  bayoiiet  only,  killed,  wounded,  or  took  at  least  three  hun- 
dred. Darkness  and  Wayne's  presence  of  mind  saved  his 
cannon  and  the  rest  of  his  troops. 

The  loss  opened  the  way  to  Philadelphia.  John  Adams, 
the  head  of  the  board  of  war,  blamed  Washington  without  stint 
tor  having  crossed  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  Schuylkill •  "If 
he  had  sent  one  brigade  of  his  regular  troops  to  have  headed 
tiie  militia,  he  might  have  cut  to  pieces  Howe's  army  in  at- 
tempting to  cross  any  of  the  fords.  Howe  will  wait 'for  his 
fleet  m  Dela^vare  river.     Heaven  grant  us  one  great  soul! 


1T77. 


HOWE  ENTERS  PniLADELPIIIA. 


181 


One  leading  n^ind  would  extricate  the  best  cause  from  tliat 
rain  whicli  seems  to  await  it." 

Wliile  John  Adams  was  writing,  Ilowe  moved  down  the 
valley  and  encamped  along  the  Schuylkill  from  Valley  Forgo 
to  French  creek.  There  were  many  fords  on  the  rapid  river, 
which  in  those  days  flowed  at  its  will.  On  the  twenty-second 
a  small  party  of  Howe's  army  forced  the  passage  at  Gordon's 
ford.  The  following  night  and  morning  the  main  body  of 
the  British  army  crossed  at  Fatland  ford  near  Yalley  Forge, 
and  encamped  with  its  left  to  the  Schuylkill.  Congress  dis- 
guised its  impotence  by  voting  Washington  power  to  change 
officers  under  brigadiers,  and  by  inviting  him  to  support  his 
army  upon  the  country  around  him.  He  could  not  by  swift 
marches  hang  on  his  enemy's  rear,  for  more  than  a  thousand 
of  his  men  were  barefoot.  Ecjoined  by  Wayne,  and  strength- 
ened by  a  thousand  ilarylandors  under  Smalhvood,  he  sent  a 
peremptory  order  to  Putnam,  who  was  wildly  planning  attacks 
on  Staten  Island,  Paulas  Hook,  IS'ew  York,  and  Long  Island, 
to  forward  a  detachment  of  twenty-five  hundred  men  "  with 
the  least  possible  delay,"  and  to  draw  his  remaining  forces  to- 
gether, so  that  with  aid  from  the  militia  of  Xew  York  and 
Connecticut  "  the  passes  in  the  Highlands  might  be  perfectly 
secure."  Ho  requested  Gates  to  return  the  corps  of  Morgan, 
being  resolved,  if  he  could  but  be  seconded,  to  force  the  army 
of  Howe  to  retreat  or  caintulate  before  winter. 

On  the  twiMity-fifth  that  anny  encamped  at  Germantown ; 
and  the  next  moniing  Coniwallis,  with  the  grenadiers,  after 
thirty  days  had  been  consumed  in  a  march  of  fifty-four  miles, 
entered  Pliiladelphia.  But  it  was  too  late  for  Ilowe  to  send 
aid  to  Burgoyne. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  August,  Gates  assumed  the  command 
of  the  northern  array,  which  lay  nine  miles  above  Albany, 
near  the  mouths  of  the  Mohawk.  After  the  return  of  the 
battalions  \\ath  Arnold  and  the  arrival  of  the  corps  of  Mor- 
gan, his  continental  troops,  apart  from  continental  accessions 
of  militia,  outmnubered  the  British  and  German  regulars 
whom  he  was  to  meet.  Artillery  and  small  arms  from  France 
arrived  through  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire ;  and  Xew  York 
brought  out  its  resources  with  exhaustive  patriotism. 


ih 


il 


r      'itl 


.1 


s  n 


1,  ',    m 

m 


I'-     i 


?i 


i ', 


,\      ! 


If  t   ! 


'11 


182      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.;  cii.  xiii. 

Hl^jvar  of. America  was  a  war_of  ideas  moi-e^tbau  of  ma- 
ierkl^owQji     On  the  iiintli  of  ScptcS^Jay,  the  Trst  chief" 
justice  of  the  new  conimouwealth  of  New  York,  as  he  opened 
its  supreme  court  in  Kingston,  cliarged  the  gi-aud  jury  in  these 
words  :   "  Free,  mild,  and  equal  government  begins  to  rise. 
Divine  Providence  has  made  tlie  tyranny  of  princes  instru- 
mental in  breaking  the  chains  of  their  subjects.      Whoever 
compares  our  present  ^\■ith  our  former  constitution  will  admit 
that  all  the  calamities  incident  to  tliis  war  will  be  amjily  com- 
pensated by  the  many  blessings   flowing  from  this  glorious 
revohition.      Thirteen  colonics  immediately  become  one  peo- 
ple, and  unariimously  determine  to  be  free.    The  people  of  this 
state  have  chosen  their   constitution   under  the  guidance  of 
reason  and  experience.     The  highest  respect  has  been  ])aid  to 
those  great  and  equal  rights  of  lunnar.  nature  which  should  for- 
ever remain  inviolate  in  every  society.     You  will  know  no 
power  but  such  as  you  create,  no  laws  but  such  as  acquire  all 
their  obligation  from  your  consent.     The  rights  of  conscience 
and  private  judgment  are  by  nature  subject  to  no  control  but 
that  of  the  Deity." 

Gates,  after  twenty  days  of  preparation,  moved  his  •  .iny 
to  Stillwater,  and  on  the  twelfth  of  September  encamped  on 
Behmus's  Heights,  a  sj^ur  of  hills  jutting  out  nearly  to  the 
Hudson,  wliich  Kosciuszko  had  selected  as  the  ground  on 
which  their  enemy  was  to  bo  waited  for.  The  army  counted 
nine  thousand  effectives,  eager  for  action. 

For  the  army  of  Burgoyne  a  hundred  and  eighty  boats 
were  hauled  by  relays  of  horses  over  the  two  portages  between 
Lake  George  and  the  river  at  Saratoga,  and  laden  with  pro- 
visions for  one  month.  Tlien  calling  in  all  his  men,  he  gave 
U])  his  coimectious,  and  with  less  tlian  six  thousand  rank  and 
flle  l;e  proceeded  toward  Albany.  On  the  thirteenth  his  army 
crossed  the  Hudson  at  Schuylerville  l)y  a  l)ridge  of  boats,  and 
encamped  within  six  miles  of  the  American  anny. 

At  once  Lincoln,  carrying  out  a  plan  concerted  with  Gates, 
sent  from  ^Manchester  five  hundred  light  troops  without  artil- 
lery, iinder  Colonel  John  Brown  of  J\rassachusetts,  to  distress 
the  British  in  their  rear.  In  the  morning  twilight  of  the 
eighteenth  Bro^vu  surp.-iscd  the  outposts  of  Ticouderoga,  in- 


1777. 


BURGOYNE'S  SURRENDER. 


183 


eluding  Mount  Defiance ;  and,  with  tlie  loss  of  not  more  than 
nine  killed  and  wounded,  he  set  free  one  hundred  American 
prisoners,  captured  four  companies  of  regulars  and  others  who 
guarded  the  new  portage  between  Lake  Chami^lain  and  Lake 
George,  in  all  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  men  with  arms 
and  five  cannon,  and  destroyed  an  armed  sloop,  gunboats,  and 
other  boats  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  below 
the  falls  of  Lake  George,  and  fifty  above  tliem. 

Tlie  British  army,  stopping  to  rebuild  bridges  and  repair 
roads,  advanced  scarcely  four  miles  in  as  many  days.  The 
right  of  the  well-chosen  camp  of  the  Americans  touched  the 
Hudson  and  could  not  be  assailed ;  their  left  was  a  high  ridge 
of  hills  ;  their  lines  were  protected  by  a  breastwork.  To  get 
forward,  ]'>urgoyne  must  dislodge  them.  His  army  moved  on 
the  nineteenth,  as  on  former  days,  in  three  columns :  the  artil- 
lery, protected  by  Ricdesel  and  Brunswick  troops,  took  the 
road  through  the  meadows  near  the  river ;  the  general  led  the 
centre  across  a  deep  ravine  to  a  field  on  Freeman's  farm; 
while  Fraser,  with  the  right,  made  a  circuit  upon  the  ridge  to' 
occupy  heights  from  wliicli  the  left  of  the  Americans  could 
be  assailed.  Indians,  Canadians,  and  tones  hovered  on  the 
front  and  flanks  of  the  several  columns. 

In  concurrence  with  the  ad\'ice  of  Arnold,  Gates  ordered 
out  Morgan's  riflemen  and  the  light  infantry.  They  put  a 
piel-et  to  flight  at  a  quarter  past  one,  but  retired  before  the  di- 
vision with  Burgoyne.  Leading  his  force  unobserved  through 
the  woods,  and  securing  his  right  by  thickets  and  ravines, 
Morgan  next  fell  unexjiectedly  upon  the  left  of  the  British 
central  division.  To  support  him.  Gates,  at  two  o'clock,  sent 
out  three  New  Hampshire  battalions,  of  whicli  that  of  Scam- 
mel  met  tlie  enemy  in  front,  that  of  Cilley  took  tlieni  in  flank. 
Morgan  with  his  riflemen  captured  a  cannon,  but  could  not 
bring  it  off;  his  horse  was  shot  under  him  in  the  warm  engage- 
ment. From  half-past  two  there  was  a  lull  of  a  half-hour,  dur- 
ing which  Phillips  brouglit  more  artillery  against  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  Gates  ordered  out  two  regiments  of  Connecticut 
militia  under  Cook.  At  three  the  battle  became  general,  and 
It  raged  till  after  sundown.  Fraser  sent  to  the  aid  of  Bur- 
goyne such  detachments  as  ho  could  spare  ^vithout  eudunger- 


1 


i  ft 

■  '11 


-m 


i     ,; 


hi    .  M 


184      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Kr.  IV. ;  en.  xiii. 


ing  hirt  own  position,  wliicli  wjis  tlio  ol)joot  of  tlic    lay.     At 
four,  (Jiites  onloi-od  out  tlio  New  York  regiinoiit  of  Cortlandt, 
followed  in  a  half-hour  by  that  of  Iloniy  Livin<(stoii.     The 
l)attlc  was  marked  by  the  obstinate  coui-age  of  the  Americans, 
but^  ])y   no   manoeuvre;   man  fought  against  man,  regiment 
against  reginu-iit.     An  American  party  would  cajiture  a  can- 
non, ;uid  drive  oif  the  British;  the  British  would  rally  and 
ivcover  it  with  tlu^  bayonet,  but  only  to  fall  back  before  the 
deadly  lire  from  the  wood.     The  Americans  used  no  artil- 
lery ;  the  ]}ritish  employed  it  with  ellect ;  but  the  commander 
of  their  principal  battery  was  killed,  and  some  of  his  officers 
and  thirty-six  out  of  forty-eight  matrosses  were   killed   or 
wounded.     At  live,  all  too  late  in  the  day,  JJrigadier  Learned 
was  ordered  with  his  brigade  and  a  Massachusetts  regiment 
to  the  enemy's  rear.     Defore  the  sun  went  down  Eurgoyno 
was  iu  d;inger  of  a  rout;  the  troops  about  him  wavered,  wlien 
Riedesel,  with  a  single  regiment  an<l  two  cannon,  struggling 
through  the  thickets,  across  a  ravine,  climbed  the  hilfand 
charged  the  Amerii-ans  on  their  right  flank.     Evening  was 
at  hand,  and  tliOfC  of  the  Americans  who  had  been  engaged 
for  more  than  three  hours  had  nearly  exhausted  their  ammu- 
nition;  they  withdrew  within  their  lines,  taking  with  them 
their  wounded  aud  a  hundred  captives.     On  the  British  side 
three  major-generals  came  on  the  Held  ;  on  the  American  side 
not  one,  nor  a  brigadier  till  near  its  close.     The  glory  of  the 
day  was  duo  to  the  several  regiments  of  husbandmen,  who 
fought  with  one  spirit  and  one  will,  and  needed  only  proper 
support  aiul  an  able  general  to  have  utterly  routed  the  army  of 
IJui-goyne.     Of  the  Americans,  praise  justly  fell  upon  Morgan 
of  Virginia  and  Scammel  of  New  ]lam])shire;  none  offered 
their  lives  more  freely  than  (Alley's  continental  regiment  and 
the  romiecticut  militia  of  Cook.     The  American  lo.-^s,  includ- 
ing the  woumlod  and  missing,  i)roved  less  than  three  hundred 
and   twenty;   distinguished  among  the  dead  was  Lieureuant- 
C\>loncI   Andrew  (\)Iburn  of  New  Hampshire.     This   battle 
erii)])led  the  British  force  irretrievably.     Their  loss  jxceeded 
six  hundred.     Of  the  sixty-second  regiment,  which  left  Canada 
live  hundred  strong,  thei-e  remained  less  than  sixty  men  and 
fom-  or  live  officers.     '*  Tell  my  uncle  I  died  like  a  soldier," 


1777. 


BURGOYNE'S  SURRENDER. 


185 


were  tlie  last  words  of  Ilcrvey,  one  of  its  lieutenants,  a  boy  of 
sixteen,  who  was  mortally  wounded.  A  shot  from  a  rifle, 
meant  for  liiirgoyne,  sti-uck  an  officer  at  his  side. 

The  J3ritish  anny  passed  the  night  in  bivouac  under  arms ; 
the  division  of  Burgoyne  on  the  field  of  battle,  irorning  re- 
vealed to  them  theii-  desperate  condition ;  to  former  difFicidties 
was  added  the  encumbrance  of  their  wounded.  Their  dead 
were  buried  promiscuously,  except  that  officers  were  throwj. 
into  boles  by  themselves,  in  one  pit  three  of  the  twentieth 
regiment,  of  whom  the  oldest  was  not  more  than  seventeen. 

An  attack  upon  the  remains  of  Eurgoyne's  division,  while 
it  was  still  disconnected  and  without  intrenchments,  was  urged 
by  Arnold ;  but  Gates  waited  for  ammunition  and  more  troops. 
The  (juarrel  between  them  grew  more  bitter ;  and  Arnold  de- 
maiuled  and  received  a  passport  for  Philadelphia.  Repenting 
of  his  rashness,  he  Hngored  in  the  camp,  but  could  not  obtain 
access  to  Gates,  nor  a  command. 

During  the  twentieth  the  Eritish  general  encamped  his 
army  on  the  heights  near  Freeman's  house,  so  near  the  Ameri- 
can  lines  that  lie  could  not  make  a  movement  unobserved. 
On  the  twenty-first  he  received  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton  a 
promise  of  a  diversion  on  Hudson  river ;  and  answered  that 
he  could  maintain  his  position  until  the  twelfth  of  October. 

Spies  of  the  Eritish  watched  the  condition  of  Putnam,  and 
he  had  not  sagacity  to  discover  theirs.  In  his  easy  manner  he 
suilered  a  large  part  of  the  New  York  militia  to  go  home ;  so 
that  he  now  had  but  about  two  thousand  men.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  with  four  thousand  troops,  feigned  an  attack  upon 
FishkiU  by  landing  troops  at  Verplanck's  Point.  Putnam  was 
duped ;  and,  just  as  the  British  wished,  retired  out  of  the  way 
to  the  hills  in  the  rear  of  Peekskill.  George  Clinton,  the 
governor  of  New  York,  knew  the  point  of  danger.  With  'such 
force  as  he  could  collect  he  luustened  to  Fort  Clinton,  while 
his  brother  James  took  command  of  Fort  Montgomery.  Put- 
nam should  have  reinforced  their  garrisons;  instead  of  it,  he 
ordered  troops  away  from  them,  and  left  the  passes  unguarded. 
At  daybreak  on  the  sixth  of  October  the  British  and  Hessians 
disembarked  at  Stony  Point;  Vaughan,  with  more  than  one 
tlionsand  men,  advanced  toward  Fort  Clinton,  while  a  corps  of 


.  I     1, 


•    I  4-i 


I-' 


186      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ei-.  it.;  cii.  xiii. 

about  a  thousand  occui)ied  the  pass  of  Dunderbcr^,  and,  by  a 
difficult,  I'irciiitous  march  of  seven  miles,  at  five  o'clock  came 
in  tlie  rear  of  Fort  jVIontgomery.  Vaughan's  troops  were  then 
ordered  to  storm  Fort  Clinton  with  the  bayonet.  A  gallant 
resistance  was  made  by  the  governt)r ;  but  at  the  close  of  twi- 
light the  British,  by  the  superiority  of  numbers,  forced  the 
works.  In  like  manner  Fort  Montgomery  was  carried-;  but 
the  two  commanders  and  almost  all  of  both  garrisons  escaped 
into  the  forest.  A  heavy  iron  chain  with  a  boom  had  been 
stretched  across  the  river  from  Fort  Montgomery  to  Anthony's 
Nose.  Overruling  the  direction  of  Governor  Clinton,  Putnam 
ordered  down  two  continental  frigates  for  the  defence  of  the 
chain;  but,  as  they  were  badly  manned,  one  of  tliem  could 
not  be  got  off  in  time;  the  other  grounded  opposite  West 
Point ;  and  both  were  set  on  fire  in  the  night.  Fort  Consti- 
tution, on  the  island  opposite  West  Point,  was  abandoned,  so 
that  the  river  was  open  to  Albany.  Putnam,  receiving  large 
reinforcements  from  Connecticut,  did  nothing  with  them.  On 
the  seventh  he  wrote  to  Gates :  "  I  cannot  prevent  the  enemy's 
advancing ;  prepare  for  the  worst ; "  and  on  the  eighth :  "  The 
enemy  can  take  a  fair  wind  and  go  to  Albany  or  Half  Moon 
with  great  expedition  and  without  any  opposition."  But  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  who  ought  a  month  sooner  to  have  gone  to 
Albany,  garrisoned  Fort  Montgomery  and  returned  to  New 
York,  leaving  Vaughan  with  a  large  marauding  expedition  to 
ascend  the  Hudson.  Yaughan  did  no  more  than  j^lunder  and 
burn  the  town  of  Kingston  and  the  mansions  of  patriots  iJong 
the  river. 

After  tlie  battle  of  the  nineteenth  of  September  the  con- 
dition of  Burgoyne  rapidly  grew  more  perplexing.  The  Ameri- 
cans in  his  rear  broke  down  the  bridges  which  he  had  built, 
and  so  swarmed  in  the  woods  that  he  could  gain  no  just  idea 
of  their  situation.  His  foraging  parties  and  advanced  posts 
were  harassed ;  horses  grew  thin  and  weak ;  the  hos])ital  was 
cumbered  with  at  least  eight  hundred  sick  and  wounded  men. 
One  third  part  of  the  soldier  s  ration  was  retrenched.  While 
the  British  anny  declined  in  number,  Gates  was  constantly  re- 
inforced. On  the  twenty-second  Lincoln  arrived,  and  took 
command  of  the  right  wing ;  he  was  followed  by  two  thousand 


»     \. 


mr. 


BURGOYNE'S  SURRENDER. 


187 


mihtia.     The  Indians  melted  away  from  Eurgoyne,  and  by 
the  zeal  of  Schuyler,  contrary  to  the  wi.ser  policy  of  dates  a 
small  band,  chielly  of  Oneidas,  joined  the  American  cam'p. 
In  the  evening  of  the  fourth  of  October,  Burgoyne  called 
1  Inlhps,  Riedesel,  and  Eraser  to  council,  and  proposed  to  them 
by  a  roundabout  march  to  tuni  the  left  of  the  Americans      To 
do  this,  it  was  answered,  the  British  must,  for  three  days,  leave 
then-  boats  and  provisions  at  the  mercy  of  the  Americans 
Riedesel  advised  a  swift  retreat  to  Fort  Edward;  but  Bur- 
goyne still  continued  to  wait  for  a  co-operating  aruiy  from 
below.     On  the  seventh  he  agreed  to  make  a  grand  reconnois- 
sance,  and,  if  the  Americans  could  not  be  attacked,  he  would 
thmk  of  a  retreat.    At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that 
day  seven  hundred  men  of  Eraser's  command,  tliree  hundred 
of  Breymann's,  and  five  hundred  of  Riedesel's,  were  picked 
out  for  the  service.     The  late  hour  was  chosen,  that  hi  case  of 
disaster  night  might  intervene  for  their  relief.     They  were 
led  by  Burgoyne,  who  took  with  him  Phillips,  Riedesel,  and 
Eraser.     The  fate  of  the  army  hung  on  the  issue,  and  not  many 
more  than  fifteen  hundi-ed  men  could  be  spared  without  ex- 
posing the  camp.     They  entered  a  field  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  Amencans,  where  they  formed  a  line,  and  sat  down  in 
double  ranks,  oflferhig  battle.     Their  artillery,  consisting  c" 
eight  brass  pieces  and  two  howitzers,  was  well  posted ;  their 
front  was  open;  the  grenadiers  under  Ackland,  stationed  in 
the  forests,  protected  tlie  left;  Eraser,  with  the  light  infantry 
and  an  English  regiment,  fonned  the  right,  which  waa  skirted 
by  a  wooded  hill ;  the  Brunswickers  held  the  centre.     While 
Eraser  sent  foragers  into  a  wheat-field,  Canadians,  provincials, 
and  Indians  were  to  get  upon  the  American  rear. 

Gates,  having  in  his  camp  ten  or  eleven  thousand  men 
eager  for  battle,  resolved  to  send  out  a  force  sufficient  to  over- 
whehn  the  detachment.  By  the  advice  of  Morgan,  a  simul- 
taneous attack  was  ordered  to  be  made  on  both  fianks.  A 
little  before  three  o'clock  the  column  of  the  American  right, 
composed  of  Poor's  brigade,  followed  by  the  New  York  mifitia 
under  Ten  Broeck,  unmoved  by  the  well-served  grape-shot  from 
two  twelve-pounders  and  four  sixes,  marched  onto  eno-ao-e  Ack- 
land's  gi-eaadiors;  while  the  men  of  Morgan  were  seen  making 


I 


iw 


\  i'; 


1H8      AMKIUCA  IN  ALLIANCK  WITH  FRANCE,     eimv. ;  on.  xiii. 

a  circuit,  to  rcw  h  the  llniik  iiud  rc.ir  of  tlio  I'ritish  ri';]it,  upon 
Avliidi  tlu)  Aiiiciiciiii  li^^litiiiriintry  iiiidcr  Dcarlioni  iiiipotiioiisl)' 
dcMceiidcd.     Ill  diiiincr  of  hciu^  Hiin-omidcd,  Hiirgtt}  ii"  ordered 
Frasor  with  fiie  ii^;ht  iiifiuitry  and  pint  of  tlie  tweiity-fourtli 
reiriineiit  to  form  a  hccoikI  line  In  the  rear,  so  as  t(»  Kcciire  the 
retreat  of  the  army.     While  executini>-  this  order,  Fraser  was 
liit  l»y  a  ball   from  a  BJiariisiiooter,  and,  fatally  wounded,  wua 
led  hack  to  the  eauij).     .lust  then,  within  twenty  minutes  from 
the  beginning  of  tho  action,  the  British  ^'renadiers,  HulVerinjj^ 
from  the  sharp  lire  of  nuisketry  in  front  and  tlank,  wavered 
and  tied,  leaving  Major  Ackland,  their  commander,  severely 
wounded.       These   movements  ex]»ose(l  the   l>ruiu;wickerri  on 
l)otli  Hanks,  and  one  rej:;iment  broke,  tunu'd,  and  iled.     It  ral- 
lied, but  only  to  retreat  in  less  disorder,  driven  by  tlio  Ameri- 
cans.     Sir   Francis  (Clarke,   Durgoynis's  first  aid,  sent  to  the 
rescue  of  the  artillery,  was  mortally  wounded  before  be  could 
deliver   lis  message;   and  the  Americans   took  all  the  eight 
pieci's.     In  the  face  of  the  hot  pursuit,  no  second   liiu'  could 
be   formed.       liurgoyne   exposed   himself  fearlessly ;    a  shot 
passed  througli  his  hat,  and  another  tore  his  waistcoat ;  but  ho 
was  comi)elU>d  to  givv)  the  word  of  conunand  for  all  to  retreat 
to  the  camp  of  Fraser,  which  lay  to  the  vhj\\i  of  liead-(iuartera. 
As  he  entered,  he  betrayed  his  sense  of  danger,  crying  out : 
"You  nnist  defend  the  post  till  tlie  very  last  man!"     The 
Americans  pursued  with  fury.     Arnold,  who  had  ridden  upon 
the  field  without  ordei-s,  without  conmumd,  without  a  stalT, 
and  beside  himself,  like  one  intoxicated,  yet  carrying  some 
authority  as  the  highest  otHcer  present  in  the  action,  gave  or- 
ders which  argued  thoughtlessness  rather  than  courage.     By 
his  conmiand  an  attack  was  made  ou  the  stj-ongest  part  of  the 
}irltish  lino,  and  continued  for  more  than  an  hour,  though  in 
.  .n.     "'Meantime,  the  brigade  of  Learned  made  a  circuit  and 
a^ssaulted  the  quarters  of  the  regiment  of  Breymann,  which 
flanked  the  extreme  right  of  the  British  camp,  and  was  con- 
nected with  Fraser's  ([uartei-s         two  stockade  redoubts,  do- 
fended  by  Canadian  ciunpanies.     These  intermediate  redoubts 
were  stormed  by  a  Massachusetts  regiment  headed  by  John 
Bn)oks,  afterward  governor  of  that  state,  and  with  little  loss. 
Arnold,  who  had  joined  in  this  last  assault,  lost  his  horse  and 


1777. 


'""'COYNE'S  Sl'IiBESDER. 


189 


eight 


Tbo 


was  Imnsolf  l,a,il3,  „.„„„j„a  ,,,(,,;„  j,,^ 

the  re»t,  al,.,ut  t»-«  Inu.dml  in  nu,„l,o,-,  »mvmk,ll     <  ,'l  ,, 
Spoth,  who  led  a  «nall  l,„u,  of  Gcn.'a,.  ',,,,„rt'';::' 

taken  iinsoner.     The  positio,,  „f  JJreviuaun  „■,«         i       . 
"".W.,eV  .,„„„;  ,„n'  the  di^tionXl  .;  0     /Ld 
not  ,e  exeented.     Ni^-ht  ended  the  l,attle  ^ 

thpflTi"*' >"'",■''*'''"'"'■'''""■'"  ""'"^  ■""•  Lincoln  appeared  ou 
the  field.    In  l„„  ,,p.,rt  „f  (,,,  „^,.  ^     ,  nan.ed TrnoM 

w.th  Morgan  and  Jtau-I,om;  and  eongtks  restored  Artuo 
the  ranlj  wine,  he  had  elai.ned.    The  aetiou  was  the  bat"k  o? 

and    of   1  e.  „.ylvan,a,  ol   New  Tork,  and  of  New  Emrland 

h    \  1,,^    f r'"  r  f"""^'  "•""■""'-'■-'J.  its  cattle  *r^ 
a  t.  h  .p,ta  enmbered  with  .iek,  wounded,  and  dying     At 
ten  „  eloek  m  the  oight  he  gave  orders  to  retreat  ■  b  ,t  f  ,}t 
break  he  ha.l  onl,  transferred  In's  eantp  to  the  t.igh"  hove' 
tl.  Wp,tai.     L.ght  dawned,  to  show  the  hopeiessness  SZ 

whe!r;e!rrit3"d^T'^r-  'd  "■•?••'""''»''' 

"Dmnned  and,il,on  1 "    Vr  Lt '„    „  ™'^  ?'?  "  "^^^^ 
«"J-ne,  Phillips,  ..d  S,      d     o^oT^SrS"'  f"- 

".ad^  halt  ":„  ItZt  r'sr't"  ""  r"" ,""«'"  ""*'  "^ 
the  tenth  the  H,      1,  «    Sar.at«ga.    In  the  nigh»  before 

.»-.on  at  Saratoga  n.ade  their  last 'tlrjnn^t"  'Z  'thl 


•i  ^  Kl 


-l-;.-it-: 


-I. 


!    r 


190      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FIIANCE.     ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xm. 

tentli  Bnrgoyno  sent  out  a  party  to  reconnoitre  tlie  road  on 
the  west  of  the  Ilndson ;  but  Stai'k,  who  after  tlie  battle  of 
Benningt(jn  had  been  received  at  home  as  a  conqueror,  had 
returned  with  more  than  two  thousand  men  of  New  Hampshire 
and  hehl  the  river  at  Fort  Edward. 

At  daybreoh  of  the  eleventli  an  American  brigade,  favored 
by  a  thiclv  fog,  broke  up  the  British  posts  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Fishkill  and  captured  all  their  boats  and  all  their  provisions 
except  a  short  allowance  for  iive  days.  On  the  twelfth  the 
British  army  was  completely  invested,  and  every  spot  in  its 
camp  was  exposed  to  rifle  shot  or  cannon.  On  the  thirteenth, 
Burgoyne  for  the  first  time  called  the  commanders  of  the  corps 
to  council,  and  they  were  unanimous  for  treating  on  honorable 
terms. 

The  American  army  and  the  freeholders  of  New  York  and 
New  England,  who  had  voluntarily  risen  up  to  resist  the  in- 
vasion from  Canada,  had,  by  their  unanimity,  courage,  and 
energy,  left  the  British  no  chance  of  escape.  "  The  great  bulk 
of  the  country,"  wrote  Burgoyne,  "is  undoubtedly  wdth  the 
congress  in  ])rinciple  and  zeal."  "When  the  general  who  should 
have  directed  them  remained  in  camp,  their  common  zeal  cre- 
ated a  liarmonious  correspondence  of  movement,  and  baffled 
the  officers  and  veterans  ojjposed  to  them.  Gates,  who  had 
never  appeared  in  the  field  *  during  the  campaign,  took  to  him- 
self the  negotiation,  and  proposed  that  they  should  surrender  as 
prisoners  of  war.  Burgoyne  replied  by  the  proj^osal  that  his 
army  should  pass  from  the  port  of  Boston  to  Groat  Britain 
upon  the  condition  of  not  serving  again  in  North  America 
during  the  present  contest ;  and  that  the  officers  should  retain 
their  carriages,  horses,  and  baggage  free  from  molestation  or 
search,  Burgo_)Tic  "giving  his  honor  tliat  there  are  no  public 
stores  secreted  therein."  Gates,  uneasy  at  the  news  of  Brit- 
ish forces  on  the  Hudson  river,  closed  with  these  "articles 
of  convention,"  and  on  the  seventeenth  "  the  convention  was 
siffned."  A  bodv  of  Americans  marched  to  the  tune  of  Yan- 
kee  Doodle  into  the  lines  of  the  British,  who  marched  out  and 
in  mute  astonishment  laid  down  their  arms  with  none  of  the 

*  Xur  was  Gutor!  iu  eoriipariy  with  Lincoln  when  Lincoln  was  wouiukd.    Co^ 
rect  Gordon,  ii.,  505,  Eny.  Ed.,  by  note  iu  N.  Y,  Doc.  Hist.,  iv.,  GIO. 


1777. 


BUEGOYNES  SURRENDER. 


191 

American  soldiery  to  witness  tlie  spectacle.     Bread  was  then 
served  to  them,  for  tliey  liad  none  left,  nor  Hour. 

Their  number,  including  officers,  Avas  live  tliousand  seven 
hundred  and  nmety-one,  among  whom  were  six  members  -  f 
parliament.     Previously  there  had  been  taken  eighteen  hun 
dred  and  hfty-six  prisoners  of  war,  including  the  sick  and 
wounded  who  had  been  abandoned.     Of  deserters  from  the 
British  ranks  there  were  three  hundred ;  so  that,  including  the 
kdled,  prisoners,  and  disabled  at  Ilubbardton,  1  ort  Ann  Ben 
nington,  Orisca,  the  outposts  of  Ticonderoga,  and  round'  Sara- 
toga, the  total  loss  of  the  British  in  this  northern  campaign 
was  not  far  from  ten  thousand. 

The  Americans  acquired  thirty-five  pieces  of  the  best  ord- 
nance then  known,  beside  munitions  of  war,  and  more  than 
four  thousand  muskets. 

Complaints  reached  congress  that  the  military  chest  of  the 
British  army  the  colors  of  its  regiments,  and  arms,  especially 
bayonets,  had  been  kept  back;  and  that  very  many  of  the 
mutos  which  were  left  beliind  had  been  pm-posely  rendered 

During  the  resistance  to  Burgoyne,  Daniel  Morgan,  from 
the  time  of  his  transfer  to  the  northern  army,  never  gave  other 
than  the  wisest  counsels,  and  stood  first  for  conduct,  effective 
eaders  up,  and  unsurpassable  courage  on  the  field  of  battle  •  vet 
Gates  didnot  recon.aend  him  for  promotion,  but  a^ked'and 
Boon  obtamed  the  rank  of  brigadier  for  James  Wilkinson,  m 
undistinguished  favorite  of  his  own. 


1 

'if 


'•1 


tl 


■I    tr 

M  * 


m 


iii 


)l 


liiii  Jli|;i(i 

jfili 


I  i'i  ;i 


i ' 
t  i 


192      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FKxVNCE.    ep.  iv.  :  ou.  xiv. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

the  contest  foe  the  delaware  eh^er.    the  confederation. 
Septeaibee -November  1777. 

TiTE  approach  to  Pliiladolphia  by  water  was  still  obstructed 
by  a  double  set  of  cLevaux-de-frise,  extending  across  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Delaware :  one,  seven  miles  from  Philadelphia,  just 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill,  and  protected  by  Fort 
Mercer  at  Rod-bank  on  the  New  Jersey  shore  and  Fort  Mifflin 
on  Mud  Island ;  the  other,  five  miles  still  nearer  the  bay,  and 
overlooked  by  works  at  Billingspoi-t. 

On  the  second  of  October  a  detachment  was  put  across  the 
Delaware  fro^n  Chester ;  the  garrison  at  Billingsport,  spiking 
their  guns,  fled,  leaving  the  lower  line  of  obstnictions  to  be 
removed  without  molestation.  Faint-heartedness  s]u-ead  along 
the  river;  from  the  water-craft  and  even  from  the  forts  tliere 
were  frequent  desertions  both  of  officers  and  privates.  Wash- 
ington unist  act,  or  despondency  will  prevail. 

The  vnllage  of  Gormanton-n  formed  for  two  miles  one  con- 
tinuous street.  At  its  centre  it  was  crossed  at  right  angles  by 
Howe's  encampment,  which  extended  on  the  riglit  to  a  wood, 
and  was  p^nardcd  on  its  extreme  left  by  Hessian  yagers  at  the 
Scliuylkill.  The  first  battalion  of  light  infaui  y  and  the 
queen's  American  rangers  were  advanced  in  front  of  the  right 
wing ;  the  second  battalion  supported  the  farthest  pickets  of 
the  left  at  IMount  Airy,  about  two  miles  from  the  camp ;  and 
at  the  head  of  the  villag(\  in  an  open  field  near  a  large  house, 
built  solidly  of  stone  and  known  as  that  of  Chew,  the  fortieth 
regiment  under  the  veteran  IMusgrave  ])itelied  its  tents.  In- 
fonnation  reached  Howe  of  an  intended  attack,  but  he  re- 
ceived it  with  incredulity. 


im. 


THE  CO.N.^ST  FOP.  THE  DELAWARE  EIVEB. 


198 


About  noon  on  the  third,  W,«I,ington,  at  Mat„„clun  Hills 

He  8poI,e  to  them  of  the  successes  of  the  northern  army,  and 
exphnned  "that  I  owe,  who  lay  at  a  distance  of  severalties 
from  Cornwalhs,  had  further  weakened  hiu>self  by  senX 
two  bat  aUous  to  Billingsport.  H  they  would  be  brave  and 
pahent,  he  m.ght  on  the  next  day  lead  them  to  victory."    iS 

e^4    and  for  t  n,  T''  '"  ^'^*  "«>  W~ach  was 

cjsy ,  and,  fo.  thai  purpose,  he  gave  to  Greene  the  command 

of  h  s  left  wmg,  composed  of  the  divisions  of  Greene  and  of 

a^wut  two  thirds  of  his  force.  The  divisions  of  Sullivan  and 
A^ay..e,  flanked  by  Couway,  brig.,de  .and  followed  by  W."h. 
mgton,  w,th  the  brigades  of  Nash  and  IWell  under  LoM 
Shrhng  as  t,e  reserve,  assun.ed  the  niore  difficult  task  of  1 
gagu,g  the  B„t,sh  left.  To  .listract  attention,  the  Mar,drd 
and  New  Jersey  militia  were  to  make  a  circuit  ^nd  comJu,  o„ 
the  rear  of  the  British  right,  while  on  the  opposite  sWeZ" 

r,tr  yitr™"^^'™'"  "■"'"■^  ™ " « •'■°- » 

The  different  columns  received  orders  to  conduct  their 
march  of  about  fc-utcen  nnles  so  as  to  .arrive  near  the  en  mv 
n  tnue  to  rest,  and  to  begin  the  .attack  on  all  quarters  pred  dy 

i!h,  ttl  ,^""°'f  8.'^''"-  ■%'.' wing  after  tSarehing 
..II  n.glit,  halted  two  mrles  m  front  of  the  British  outpost  .and 
took  refreshment.     Screened  by  a  fog  .and  moving  i,f  s  lence 

n  hcd  o,?r  r";  ''*'^;  '""""■"'  ''^'  S"lHvau-s  division, 
nishid  on,  ho  huglo  sounded  a  retreat.  The  cannon  woke 
Con„v.all,s  in  Philadelphia,  who  instantly  ordere  B  tth 
grena.lu.rs  and  Hessians  to  the  scene  of  actii;  How.  fn  Uke 
manner  startled  fron,  his  bed,  rode  up  just  in  (i„,e  to'see  he 
c*d  •?  "•■""■«  away.     "For  shan.e    light  infant^;  " 

fo^f  "T'   ^  "'™''  ^"  y™  ■■^♦™"   ''rf™.     Form, 

ft,    Am  ™  '' "  ^°"""*^  ''»■■'■'••"    B"t  grape-^bot  from  tbr'e 

oii^ncss  of  Ihe  attack.  a,ui  he  rode  off  at  full  speed  to  prepare 


t 


i\ 


0 


?ti 


1 1^ 

i    i' 


II 


i  1 
I  } 


19i      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.iv.;  cu.  xiv. 


a"  n 


i:H\       ! 


'  I 


liifi  camp  for  hattle,  wliilo  Mii«<i;ravo,  (Ictiicliiiig  a  part  of  liis 
regiiMOut  to  support  tlic  fugitives,  threw  liiuiself  with  six  coni- 
jxuiies  into  Chew's  house  hy  the  wayside  and  barricaded  its 
lower  windows  and  doors.  The  cannon  of  tlie  Americans  were 
too  light  to  breach  its  walls. 

As  nothing  was  heard  from  Greene,  Sullivan,  as  he  ap- 
proached (View's  house,  directed  Wayne  to  pass  to  the  left  of 
it  wliile  he  advanced  on  its  right.  In  this  manner  the  two 
divisions  were  separated.  Tiie  advance  was  slow,  for  it  was 
made  in  line ;  and  the  tro()i)s  wasted  their  amnmnition  by  an 
incessant  tire.  "Washington,  with  I^raxwelFs  part  of  the  re- 
serve, summoned  ]\[usgravo  io  surrender ;  but  the  officer  who 
carried  the  white  flag  was  fired  upon  and  killed.  Uiged  for- 
ward by  his  own  anxiety  and  the  zeal  oi  the  young  oHicers  of 
his  stair,  AVashington  left  a  single  regiment  to  watch  the  house, 
and  with  the  rest  of  the  reserve  advanced  to  the  front  of  the 
battle. 

And  where  Avas  Greene  ^^^th  the  two  thirds  of  the  attack- 
ing foire  which  had  been  confided  to  his  command?  lie 
reached  the  British  outpost  three  (piarters  of  an  hour  behind 
time ;  then,  at  a  great  distance  from  the  force  which  he  was 
to  have  attacked,  he  formed  his  whole  wing,  and  in  line  of 
battle  advanced  two  miles  or  more  through  marshes,  thickets, 
and  strong  and  nmucrous  ]>()Pt-and-rail  fences.  Iri-etrieva- 
ble  disorder  was  the  consequence;  the  line  was  broken  and 
the  divisions  became  mixed.  Macdongall  never  came  into  the 
light ;  Greene,  ^\^th  the  brigades  of  Scott  and  Muhlenberg, 
entered  tlie  village  and  attacked  the  British  I'ight,  which  had 
had  ami)le  time  for  ])reparation.  They  Avere  outHanked,  and, 
after  about  hftcen  minutes  of  heavy  tiring,  were  driven  back; 
and  the  regiment  which  had  penetrated  farthest  was  ca])tured. 
Stephen  with  one  of  his  brigades  came  as  far  as  the  left  of 
AVavne's  division ;  the  comnumder  of  the  othei",  which  was  on 
the  extreme  right  of  the  Aving,  left  the  way  marked  out  by 
his  orders  and  went  to  Cliew's  house.  There  the  brigade 
halted,  and  with  light  field-jM'eces  liegan  to  play  upon  its  walls. 
For  this  cannonade  Wayne's  division  could  not  account,  except 
by  sup]>osing  that  the  British  right  had  gained  their  rear;  and, 
throwing  oil  all  control,  they  retreated  in  disorder.     Suliivau's 


■!  ,1 


1777.       THE  CONTEST  FOR  THE  DELAWARE  RIVER. 


195 


men  liad  expended  their  ammunition.  Tlie  English  battalions 
from  Philadelphia,  advancing;  on  a  run,  were  close  at  hand.  In 
the  fog,  parties  of  Americans  had  repeatedly  mistaken  each 
otlier  for  British.  At  about  half-past  eight,  Wasliington^  who 
had  "  exposed  himself  to  the  hottest  fire,"  seeing  that  the  day 
was  lost,  gave  the  word  to  retreat,  and  sent  it  to  every  division. 
Care  was  taken  for  the  removal  of  every  piece  of  artillery. 
British  and  German  officers  of  the  first  rank  judged  the  attack 
to  have  been  well  planned,  and  that  no  retreat  was  ever  cun- 
ducted  in  better  order. 

In  the  official  report  of  this  engagement,  the  commander- 
in-chief  stated  with  unsparing  exactness  the  tardy  arrival  of 
Greene  and  the  wing  under  his  command.  The  renewal  of  an 
attack  so  soon  after  the  defeat  at  the  Brandywiue  inspirited 
coiigress  and  the  army. 

To  open  the  Delaware  river,  the  fleet  of  Lord  Howe,  be- 
tween the  fourth  and  eighth  of  tlie  month,  anchored  between 
Newcastle  and  Reedy  Island.     By  the  middle  of  October  a 
narrow  and  intricate  channel  through  the  lower  obstruction  in 
the  river  was  opened.     The  upper  set  of  chevaux-de-frise  was 
untouched;  and  the  forts  on  Red-baidc  and  on  Mud  Island, 
which  protected  it,  were  garrisoned  by  continental  troops,  the 
former  under  the   command  of  Colonel  Christopher  Greene 
of  Rhode   Island,  the   latter   of   Lieutenant-Colonel   Samuel 
Smith  of  :\raryland.     Meantime,  from  the  necessity  of  con- 
centrating his   force,  Howe  ordered  Sir  Henry  Clinton   to 
abandon  Fort  Clinton  on  the  Hudson  and  to  send  him  a  rein- 
forcement of  "  full  six  thousand  men."    He  removed  his  army 
from  Germantown  to  Philadelphia,  and  raised  a  Hue  of  fortifi- 
cations from  the  Schuylkill  to  the  Delaware. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth  a  messenger  arrived  in 
the  American  camp,  bringing  letters  from  Putnam  and  Clin- 
ton, prematurely  but  positively  announcing  the  surrender  of 
the  army  of  Burgoyne.  Washington  received  them  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  devout  gratitude  "for  this  siirnal  stroke  of 
Providence."  "All  will  be  Avell,"  he  said,  "in  His  own  ^ood 
time."  ^ 

The  news  (luickly  ])enetriitod  the  British  cnmp.  Tlse  diffi- 
culty of  access  to  the  upper  chevaux-de-frise  in  the  Delaware 


,1 


19(5       AMKIIKJA  IN  ALLIAJ^OE  WITH  FIIANOK.     kimv.;  cii.  xiv. 


Mm 


riviT  had  dclavi'd  its  rt'ductioii ;  iiiuk'r  a  fct'liiu'"  of 


oxas 


pcratud 


impaliriu'c,  Sir  William  Ilowc  <jja.vo  verbal  ordens  to  Colonel 
Doiiop,  who  liad  expressed  a  wish  for  a  separate  eoiiimaiid,  to 
carry  Ued-baidv  by  assault  if  it  eould  easily  be  done.  On  tho 
tweiity-seeoiid,  Donop,  with  five  Hessian  regiments  and  their 
arlillerv,  four  eoinpanies  of  .y;>i;'ers,  a  few  mounted  yagers,  and 
two  English  howil/A'rs,  arrived  near  tlu^  fort,  which  on  three 
sides  could  be  approached  through  thii'k  woods  witliin  four 
hundred  yards,  it  was  a  pentagon,  witli  a  liigh  earthy  ram- 
part, protected  in  front  by  an  abattis.  The  battery  of  eight 
three-pounders  and  two  howitzers  was  brought  u})  on  the  right 


WMig,  and  directed  on   the  (Mnl)rasur 


cs. 


At  the  front  of  each 


t»l'  the   four  l)altalions  selected   for  the  assault  stood 


a,  ca 


w 


ith  the  carpenters  and  one   hundred  men   bearing  the   f; 


[>tain 


is- 


cines.  Donoj),  at  h:'lf-|)as(:  four,  summoned  the  garrison  in 
arrogant  language.  A  deliance  being  returned,  he  addressed 
a  few  words  to  his  trooi)s.  Each  cok>nel  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  his  division  ;  and  at  a  (piarter  before  iive,  luider 
tlie   protection  of  a  brisk  cannonade  from  all  their  artillery, 

I'ariny;    it. 


they  ran  forward  and   carried   the  abattis.     On  cl 
th 

rible  lire  of  small  arms  and  -of 


'y  were  end)arrasst>d  by  pitfalls,  and  were  i-xposcd  to  a  ter- 


'aled 


ape-siior  Trom  a  concealed 
gallery,  while  two  galleys,  which  the  bushes  bad  hidden,  raked 
their  tlaidvs  with  chain-shot.     Yet  the  brave   Hessians  formed 
on  the  glacis,  tilled  tlie  ditv'h,  and  pressed  on  toward  tlie  ram- 
part.    I>ut  Donop,  the  olHciTs  of  his  stall",  and  more  than  half 
the  other  ollicers,  were   kilknl   or  wounded;   the   men  who 
climbed  tlu«  parapet  were  beaten  down  with  lances  and  bayo- 
nets; and,  as  the  morning  twilight  was  coming  on,  the  assail- 
ants fell  back  under  the  protection  of  their  reserve.     ]\[any  of 
thewoundetl  crawled  into  the  forest;  Dono])  and  a  few  othera 
were  left  behind.      The  survivors  marched   back   during  the 
night  nni)ursued.     As  the   Uritish  ships-of-v>ar  which  had  at- 
temj)ted  to  take  part  in  the  attack  fell  down  tin'  river,  the  Au- 
gusta, of  sixty-four  guns,  and  the  Merlin  frigate  grounded.    The 
next  day  tlie  Augusta  was  set  on  lire  by  red-hot  shot  from  the 
American  galleys  and  lloatiug  l»atterijs,  and  blew  up  before 
all  her  crew  could  csca[)e;   tho  ]\Ierliu  was  abandoned   and 
burned.     From  tho  wrecks  the  Americans  biou<.;ht  oiT  two 


*.  1 


1777.       Tilt:  CONTEST  FOIi  THE  DELAWARE  RIVER.         197 

twonty-fonr  pounders.  "  Tl.iuik  (Jo.l,"  reasoned  Jol.n  Adi.nifl, 
"the  glory  is  not  imniediiit.el.y  due  to  the  eoinroander-in-cliief,' 
or  idolatry  and  adulation  would  have  been  so  excessive  a«  to 
endanger  our  iibei'ties." 

The  Hessians,  by  their  (.\vn  account,  lost  in  the  assault  four 
inmdred  and  two  in  killed  and  wounde.l,  of  whom  twenty-six 
were   oflicers.      Two  colonels   gave  up  their  lives.     Donop, 
whose  thigh  was  shattered,  lingerinl  for  three  days;  to  Mau- 
duit  Duplessis,  who  watched  over  his  death-bed,  he  said:  "It 
is  iinishing  a  uoble  career  early;  I  die  the  vietiiu  of  niv  ambi- 
tion and  of  the  avarice  of  my  sovereign."     This  was  the  mo- 
ment chosen  by  IJowe  to  conii)laiM  of  Lord  fleorgc  Germain; 
to  ask  the  king's  leave  to  resign  his  connnand;  and   to  rc- 
j)ort  that  there  was  no  prospc^^t  of  terminating  the  war  with- 
out another  campaigJi,  nor  then,  unless  largo  reinforcements 
should  bo  sent  from  Ku)'0])e. 

On  IJurgoyne's  surrender.  Gates  shoidd  instantly  have  de- 
taeheil  reinforcements  to  Arashington  ;  but  even  the  cori)8  of 
Morgan  was  not  returned.    1M.e  connnander-in-chief,  therefore, 
near  the  end  of  October,  despatched  Alexander  Hamilton,  with 
aulliority  to  demand  them.     Putnam  for  a  while  disre<r',nled 
the  orders  borne  by  Hamilton.     (Jates  detained  a  very  large 
part  of  his  army  in  idleness  at  Albany,  under  the  pretext  of  an 
expedition  against  Ticonderoga,  which   he  did  not  mean   to 
attack  and  which  the  IJritish  of  themselves  abandoned  ;   he 
neglected  to  announce  his  victory  to  the  commander-in-chief. 
Instead   of   chiding   the  insubordination,  congress  ai)pointed 
him  to  regain  the  forts  and  passes  on  the  [fudson  river.    Now 
AVashington  had  himself  recovered  these  forts  and  passes  by 
])ressing  Howe  so  closely  as  to  compel  him  to  order  their  evacu- 
ation; yet  congress  forbade  AVashington  to  detach  from  the 
northern  army  more  than  twenty-iive  hundred  men,  iucludincr 
the  corps  of  :^[organ,  without  first  consulting  General  Gates 
and  the  governor  of  New  York.     It  was  even  moved  that  he 
should  not  detach  any  troops  except  after  consultation  ^\ith 
Gates  and  (^linton  ;    and  Samuel   Adam.s,  John  Adams  and 
Gerry   of   ]\rassachiisetts,   with   ]Marchant   of   Khode    Island, 
voted  for  that  resti-iction.     Time  was  wasted  by  this  interfer- 
ence.    Besides,  while  the  northern  army  had  been  borne  on- 


T, 


M   i,  ; 


:     V 


■  I»^ 


i"i> 


I 


lUS      AMKKK'A  IN  AI.LIANCM':  WITH  l''UANUE.     icimv.  ;  en.  xiv. 

wiinl  to  vicliirv  hy  (lie  lisitinj  of  {\w  people,  Wiisliiiij^lon  eii- 
I'oimtrri'tl  in  r<Miiisyl\;iiii;i  iiiti«rii;iri\MiilM,  and  a  ri'li^ioiis  sect 
wliicli  I'orlnult'  lt>  ilK  iiu'mltciri  (Ik*  use  of  aniiH. 

I>y  tlio  leiilli  of  Noveiiilier  tlie  iJrilisli  had  comiileled  (lieir 
i>utleiies  oil  llie  leedy  iiiorasH  of  I'rovinci"  Island,  livr  liundred 
yards  iVmii  (lie  Amu'I-'umm  fort  on  Mud  Island,  and  l)c<'an  an 
iiu'essant  lire  tVoni  loui'  Uatteries  of  lieavv  aitillery.  Sniilh 
^ave  the  opinion  that  llu*  <;-;irrison  eoiiid  n(»l  repel  a  n(orniin!ji,' 
parly;  hnl  Major  l''lenrv,  tiie  I''reneh  enj^iiieer,  reported  Iho 
placo  to  ltt<  slill  del'ensiitle.  On  llu'  I'ievonlh,  Smith,  ha\in};' 
reeeivi'd  a  sii;.;h'  hurt,  passi'd  inuui'diately  It*  Ived-hanU  ;  thu 
m>xt  in  rank  di>sirt>d  lo  he  ri't-alliHl ;  and  early  on  the  thirlei'iith 
tlu>  hrave  garrison  of  hut  two  hundred  and  eij;hly-si\  tivsU 
men  an»l  twenty  arlil!i>rists  was  conlided  to  Major  Simeon 
'I'liayt'r  ol'  Khodo  Island,  who  luul  dislinonislu'tl  himsell'  in  (ho 
t<\pedition  a<:,ains(  (Jui'lu'C,  anil  who  now  vohmti'iMvd  (o  tako 
(he  desperate  eonunaid.  Direclod  l>y  Thayer  and  I'leury,  (ho 
garrison  held  out  durliij;'  an  ineessan(  homhardnuMit  and  can- 
iionadi'.  On  (he  (ilieiMilh,  (ho  wind  proving-  ("air,  tho  V'ij;"i- 
lant  I'arryin:;'  si\(eiM»  (wonty-t'our  poundt>rs,  autl  the  hulk  of  a 
larj;o  Indiaman  wi(h  (hrei*  (wi'iUy  l"our  pouuuers,  aldi'd  hy  tho 
tide,  wiM\>  warped  (hron;;'h  an  imu-r  ehaniu'l  which  the  oh- 
strut'tions  in  the  river  had  doi'pened,  and  anchon^l  so  near  tho 
Amoriean  tort  (hat  (hey  t'onld  send  into  i(  hand-_i;'renadi's,  and 
marksmen  from  (he  nias(  oi  tho  \'i^','ila!\t  eouKl  piek  oil"  inon 
from  i(s  platform.  l''ive  larut>  ]>ri(i.sh  ships-of-war,  whieh 
«lrew  r.oar  (hi'  elu>vau':-do  frisi\  kopt  od"  (ho  Ameriean  tlodlla, 
and  si)metimes  lii'eil  on  iho  uuprotei*(od  side  o{  (he  fort.  The 
land  batteries,  now  live  in  nnmher,  played  from  (hirty  piei'os 
a(  shor(  distanees.  The  rampar(s  and  Moi'kdiouses  on  Mud 
Island  were  honeyeomhod,  their  eannon  nearly  sileneod,  A 
^^(orniinsj;  party  was  got  roady  ;  hut  Sir  William  llowo,  who  on 
tho  tif(eiMith  w;!s  present  with  his  brodier,  u-ave  orders  (o  keep 
up  the  lire  all  lu^ht  tluvugh.  In  the  eveninj;-  Thayer  sent  ail 
the  garrison  hut  I'orty  men  over  to  Ked-baid;,  and  after  mid- 
night (ollowvd  with  the  rest.  When,  on  the  sixteenth,  the 
KritisU  troo[is  entered  the  fort,  they  found  nearly  every  one 
of  its  eaiuiou  stained  with  Mood.  Never  were  orders  to  de- 
fend, a  plaeo  lo  i.ho  l.u-t  oxtrciiut}'  more  t'aithful'y  executed. 


1777.       THK   (;()XTi:.ST  FOR  THE  DELAWARE   JMVEIl 


199 


Tliiijcr  w:is  ivjM)rl(>(l  to  Wnsliln^rton  uk  m,  ,,nif'cr  of  [Ik;  hio-l,. 
est  inert;  FltMiiy  won  u'oII-doHemul  promotion  iVoni  con^nCsH. 
Connvallis  w:ih  next  sent  hy  wuy  (.f  CheHtcr  to  iJilHii.rs-' 
l)ort  wiMi  II  sfron^r  |,o,ly  (,f  troops  to  dcjir  the   loft  hank  'of 
lh(!   Delaware.     A  division  under  Creeno  was  promptly  des- 
palclied  iicrosM  tl.o  river  to -ivo  liim   halMo.     (^.rnwiil'iH  was 
joined  l>y  liv(!  IJrititih  battalions  from  Nvav  York,  wlu'io  tlio 
American  reinformnentri   from   the  n(.rthern  army  were  ntill 
kept  hack.     It  therefore  hecamo  neccHwary  to  evaciiato   Red- 
hiiuk.     Cnrnwallis,  liavin-  levelled  its  ramparts,  returned  to 
riiiladc'Iphia,  and  (Ireen  rejoined   AV^ishingt(m ;  Imt  not   till 
Lafayette,  wlio  attended  tlui  e\{.edition  as  a  volunteer,  had  se- 
cure.l  the  applause  of  eon^^ess  by  routin^,^  a  party  of  I'lessians. 
For  all  th(>  Heemiuf,'  success,  many  oflieers  in  the  Ijiitish  camp 
expressed  the  opinion  that  tl.o  states  could  not  be  subju^-ated. 
I'Von.  day  to  day  the  M'ant  of  a  fro„oral   -overnnient  was 
iHon.  kee.dy  felt.     AVliile  the  winter-cpiarters  of  th<>  British  in 
riiiladelphia  were;  nMidered  secure  by  the  i)ossession  of  the 
river  Delaware,  conj^n-ess,  which  was  scolfed  at  in  the  Hritisli 
liouse  of  lords  as  a  "  va-rant "  h-,M-d(-,  resumed  at  Yorktown  the 
work  of  coufedi'ration.     ( )f  the  connnittee  who,  in  .Tune  1770, 
ha<l  iK-en  appointed  to  prepare  the  j.lan,  Sanu.el  Adams  alone 
remained  a  mem!>er;  and  even  he  was  absent  when,  on  the 
fifteenth  of  Xovend)er  1777,  "articles  of  confe.lerati,m  and 
perpetuid  uuion  »  were  ado]>ted,  to  bo  submitted  for  approba- 
tion to  the  several  states. 

l^ie  i)resent  is  always  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  past^ 
A  new  form  of  ])olitical  life  never  appears  but  as  a  growth 
(Mit  of  its  antecedents.  In  civil  affairs,  as  nnich  as  in  hus- 
bandry, se(.d-time  goes  before  the  harvest,  and  the  harvest  may 
be  seen  in  the  seed,  the  seed  in  the  harvest.  According  to  the 
American  theory,  the  unity  of  the  colonies  had,  before  the 
declaration  of  ind(>pen(l(>nce,  resided  in  the  Hritish  king.  The 
C(^ngress  of  the  I'nited  States  was  the  king's  successor,  and  it 
hdierited  only  the  powers  which  the  -ol-iiies  themscl'ves  ac- 
knowli>dged  to  have  belonged  to  tlu>  cr,.    n. 

The  instincts  of  local  attachment  had  been  strengthened  l)v 
time  and  by  the  excellence  of  the  local  iToveruments.  Affec- 
tion ccndd   not   twine   itself  round  a  continental  domain  of 


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v.^' 


200      AMEUICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EI'.  IV. ;  cii.  XIV. 


wliicli  tlie  givafc-r  jjart  was  a  wildcn-ncsa,  associated  witli  no 
rocol lections.  Tlie  confederacy  was  formed  luuler  tliu  in- 
Huenco  of  political  ideas  which  liad  been  developed  by  a 
contest  of  centiu-ies  for  individual  and  local  liberties  against 
^m  irrcsp,.nsi])]e  central  antliority.  Now  that  i)ower  had  jiassed 
to  the  people,  new  insfitntions  were  re(jnired  strong  enough 
to  protect  the  uni(jn,  yet  without  impairing  the  liberties  of  the 
stateor  the  individual.  Hut  America,  misled  by  what  belonged 
to  the  past,  took  for  her  organizing  force  the  principle  of  "^re- 
sistance to  power,  which  in  all  the  thirteen  colonies  had  been 
hardened  into  stul)bornness  by  resistance  to  opj^ression. 

During  the  sixteen  montlis  that  followed  the  introduction 
of  the  plan  for  confederation  prepared  by  Dickinson,  the 
spirit  of  separation,  fostered  by  nncontrol'  i  indulgence,  and 
by  opposing  interests  and  institutions,  visibly  increased  in  con- 
gress; and  every  change  in  his  draft,  which  of  itself  proposed 
only  a^  league  of  states,  diminished  the  energetic  authority 
Avhich  is  the  lirst  guarantee  of  liberty. 

The  United  States  of  America  included  within  their  juris- 
diction all  the  territory  that  had  belonged  to  the  old  thi'rteen 
colonies ;  and,  if  Canada  would  so  choose,  they  were  ready  to 
annex  Canada. 

In  the  rejMiblics  of  Greece,  citizenship  had  in  theory  been 
confined  to  a  body  of  kindred  families,  which  formed  an  heredi- 
tary caste,  a  multitudinous  aristocracy.     Such  a  system  could 
liave  no  permanent  vitality ;  and  the  Greek  republics,  as  the 
Italian  republics  in  after-ages,  died  out  for  want  of  citizens. 
Anierica  adopted  the  princi2)le  of  the  all-embracing  unity  of 
societ.v.     As  the  American  ten-itoiy  was  that  of  the  old  thirteen 
colonies,  so  the  free  people  residing  ui)on  it  formed  the  freo 
people  of  tlie  United  St;itos.     Subject  and  citizen  were  cor- 
relative terms ;  subjects  of  the  monarchy  became  citizens  of 
the  re])ublic.     He  that  had  owed  primary  allegiance  to  tlie  king 
of  England  now  owed  primary  allegiance  to  miited  America"; 
yet,  as  the  republic  was  the  sudden  birth  of  a  revolution,  the 
moderation  of  congress  did  not  name  it  treason  for  the  fonner 
subjects  of  the  king  to  adhere  to  his  government;  only  it  was 
held  that  whoever  chose  to  remain  on  the  soil,  by  residence 
accepted  i)i'otection  and  owed  allogiauce.     This  is  the  reason 


1777. 


THE  CONFEDERATION-. 


201 


^v..y,  for  twelve  years,  free  inliabitants  and  citixoiis  were  in 
American  state  papers  convertible  terms,  sometimes  nscd  one 
for  tlie  other,  and  sometimes,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  re- 
dmidantly  joined  together. 

The  king  of  England  claimed  as  his  subjects  all  person^ 
born  withm  his  donunions :  in  like  manner,  every  one  who 
h.  t  saw  the  light  on  the  American  soil  was  a  Jiatural-born 
American  citizen  ;  but  the  pouer  of  naturalixatiun,  which   un- 
der the  king,  each  colony  had  claimed  to  regulate  bv  its  own 
laws,  remained  under  the  confederacy  with  the  separate  states 
The  king  had   extended  protection   to   everv  one  of  his 
hegcs  in  every  one  of  the  thirteen  colonies  ;  now  "that  congress 
was  the  successor  of  the  king  in  America,  the  right  to  eciual 
l)rotection  was  continued  to  every  free  inhabitant  in  whatever 
Btute  he  might  sojourn  or  dwell. 

It  had  been  held  nnder  the  monarchy  that  each  American 
colony  was  as  independent  of  England  as  the  electorate  of 
ixanover;  m  the  confederacy  of  "the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica,   each  state  was  to  remain  an  independent  sovereign,  and 
the  union  was  to  be  no  more  than  an  alliance.     This  theory 
decided  the  manner  in  which  congress  should  vote.     Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia  asked  that,  while  each  state  might  have 'at 
least  one  delegate,  the  rule  should  be  one  for  every  fifty  thou- 
sand mhabitants;  but  the  amendment  M'as  rejected  by  nine 
states  against  two,  Delaware  being  absent  and  North  Carolina 
divided.     \  irgmia  would  have  allowed  to  each  state  one  mem- 
ber of  congress  for  every  thirty  thousand  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  m  this  she  was  supported  by  John  Adams;  hut  his  col- 
leagues cast  the  vote  of  Massachusetts  against  it,  and  Yir-inia 
was  leit  alone,  Xorth  Carolina  as  before  being  equally  divkled 
V  irgniia,  again  supported  by  John  Adams,  desired  that  the 
representation  for  each  state  should  be  in  proportion  to  its  con- 
tribution to  the   public  treasury ;  but  this   was   oi)i)osed  by 
every  other  state,  including  Korth  Carolina  and  Massachusetts^ 
At  last  with  only  one  state  divided  and  no  negative  voice  but 
tluit  ot  Virginia,  an  e.pial  vote  in  congress  was  acknowledged 
to  belong  to  each  sovereign  state.     The  number  of  delegates 
to  give  that  vote  might  be  not  less  than  two  nor  more  than 
eeven  for  each   state.     The  remedy   for   this  ine-piality  eu- 


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202      AMKUIOA  IN  ALLIAXOE  WITH  FHANCE.     f.v.iv.;  cu.xiv. 

lianced  tlie  uvil  and  foi-elxxli-d  aniircliy  ;  wliilo  each  state;  liad 
ono  vi)to,  "o;roat  and  very  iiiturctitiiig  (jucstious"  could  he  car- 
riod  only  hy  the  coiicurreiico  of  nino  states.  If  the  advice  uf 
Saiiiuel  Adaiii.s  had  been  listened  to,  the  vote  of  nine  states 
would  not  hav!;  prevailed,  unless  they  represented  a  majority 
of  the  i)eoi)lo  of  all  the  states.  For  the  transaction  of  less  iin- 
l)ortant  hiisiiu-ss,  an  alllnnativo  vote  of  seven  states  was  re- 
quired. In  other  words,  in  tlic  ono  case  the  assent  of  two 
thirds  of  all  the  states,  in  the  other  of  a  majority  of  them  idl, 
was  needed,  the  absence  of  any  state  having  the  force  of  a 
negative  vote. 

The  king's  right  to  levy  taxes  in  the  colonies  by  parliament 
or  by  his  prerogative  had  been  denied,  and  no  more  than  a 
power  to  make  recpiisitions  had  been  conceded  :  in  like  manner 
it  was  assumed  as  a  fundamental  article  that  the  United  States 
in  congress  assembled  shall  never  impose  or  levy  any  tax  or 
duties,  but  oidy  make  recpiisitions  for  moiu'y  on  the  several 
states  ;  and  this  restriction,  such  was  the  force  of  usage,  was  ac- 
cepted v.itlumt  remark.     No  one  explaiued  the  distinction  be- 
tween a  superior  power  wielded  by  an  hereditary  king  in  an- 
other hemisphere  and  a  superior  ])ower  which  should  be  the 
chosen  expression  of  the  will  and  reason  of  the  nation.     TJic 
country  had  broken  with  the  past  in  declaring  inde])eiulence  ; 
it  went  back  into  bondage  to  the  past  in  fonuing  its  iirst  con- 
stitution.    The  lang  might  establish  a  general  post-olliee,  it 
had  been  held,  for  pid)lic  convenience,  not  for  a  purpose  of 
revenue:  in  like   manner  congress  might  authorize  rates  of 
postage  to  defray  the  expense  of  transj)orting  the  mails.     The 
colonies  under  the  king  had  severally  levied  import  and  ex- 
port duties ;    the  wune  power  was  reserved  to  each  sejjarate 
state,  to  bo  limited  only  l)y  the  proposed  treaties  with  Trance 
and  Spain. 

The  new  republic  was  left  without  any  independent  reve- 
nue, and  the  cliarges  of  the  government,  its  issues  of  pajier 
money,  its  loans,  were  to  be  idtimately  defrayed  through 
re(piisitions  for  the  quotas  assessed  upon  the  separate  states. 
The  diirerence  l)ctween  the  Xorth  and  the  South  growing  out 
of  the  institution  of  slavery  decided  the  rule  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  these  quotas.     By  the  draft  of  Dickinson,  taxation  was 


1777. 


THE   0()NFFJ)KRATION. 


203 


to  1)0  in  proi)()rtl<)n  to  tlio  amnxm  of  popr.liition,  in  wliid.  slaves 
wero  to  bu  uiiuiiitTatod.     On  the  tiiirtoontli  of  October  1777 
it  UMH  moved  that  the  sum  to  be  paid  by  each  state  into  the 
tiyasuiy  ^h.Mild  be  uscertaiiied  by  tlic  value  of  all  property 
within  eacii   state.     Tliis  was   i)r()niptly  negatived,  and  wjw 
followed  by  a  motion  having  for  its  object  to  exempt  slaves 
from  taxation  altoi-ether.     On  the  folh.wing  day  eleven  states 
were  i.resent.     The  four  of  JVew  England  voted  in  the  nogii- 
tive;  jALiryland,  Virginia,  and  the  two  Caroliuas  in  the  affirma- 
tive.    Jl(;bert  Mori-is  of  Pennsylvania  against  R(jberdeau,  and 
Duer  of  Kew  York  against   Duane,  voted  with  the  South,  and 
80  the  votes  of  their  states  were  divided  and  lost.     Tiie  deci- 
sion rested  on  Ni^^v  Jersey,  and  she  gave  it  for  the  complete 
exemption  from  taxation  of  all  property  in  slaves.     This  is  the 
first  ijnportant  division  between  slaveliolding  states  and  the 
states  wliere  slavery  was  of  little  account.     Tlie  rule  for  ap- 
poi-tioning  tlie  revenue,  as  finally  adopted,  was  tlu^  respective 
value  of  land  granted  or  surveyed,  and  the  l)uiidings  and  im- 
provements thereon,  withont  regard  to  personal  property  or 
numbers.     This  rendered  the  confederacy  nugatory;  for  con- 
gress had  n.jt  power  to  make  tlie  valuation. 

In  like  manner  the  rules  for  navigation  were  to  be  estab- 
lished exclusively  by  each  sepui-ite  state,  and  the  confederation 
did  not  take  to  itself  power  to  countervail  the  restrictions  of 
foreign  governments,  or  to  form  agreements  of  reciprocity,  or 
eveii  to  establish  uniformity.  These  arrangements  suited  the 
opinions  of  the  time ;  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey,  vexed  by 
the  control  of  N(iw  York  over  tlie  waters  of  New  York  l)ay, 
alone  jJi-oposcd  as  an  amendment  a  grant  of  greater  power 
over  foreign  commerce.  Moreover,  each  state  decided  for 
Itself  what  imports  it  would  permit  and  what  it  would  pro- 
hibit. As  a  consequence,  the  confederate  congress  was  left 
without  power  to  sanction  or  to  sto])  the  slave-trade. 

The  king  had  possessed  all  land  not  alienated  by  royal 
grants.  On  the  declaration  of  independence,  the  royal  quit- 
rents  ceased  to  be  paid;  and  each  state  assumed  the  owner- 
ship of  the  royal  domain  within  its  limits.  The  validity  of 
the  act  of  parliament  which  transferred  the  region  north-west 
of  the  Ohio  to  tJie  province  of  Quebec  was  denied  by  all :  but 

VOL.   V. — 16  •'  ' 


.T 


n 


111 


I 


'Im 


204      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  en.  XIV. 


f  1 


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'J  ^'  V^  '^^^  ^^^^^^  which  by  tlieir  charters  extended  indefinitely  west, 
X    ^^  pr  west  and  north-west,  refused  to  accept  the  United  States  as 
-^  •*  the  umpire  to  settle  their  boundaries,  except  with  reo-ard  to 

each  other. 
.         Jealousy  of  a  standing  army  and  the  superiority  of  the 
'  civil  over  th(3  military  power  were  among  the  dearest  tradi- 
tions of  English  liberty.     It  was  borne  in  mind  that  victorious 
legions  revolutionized  Rome ;  that  diaries  I.  sought  to  over- 
turn the  institutions  of  England  by  an  army ;  that  by  an  anny 
Charles  II.  was  brought  back  without  conditions ;  that  by  a 
standing  army,  which  Americans  themselves  were  to  have  been 
taxed  to  maintain,  it  had  been  proposed  to  abridge  American 
liberties.     In  congress  this  distrust  of  mihtary  power  existed 
all  the  more  for  the  confidence  and  undivided  affection  which 
the  people  bore  to  the  American  commander-in-chief,  and  has 
for  its  excuse  that  human  nature  was  hardly  supposed  able  to 
furnish  an  example  of  a  military  liberator  of  his  country,  de- 
sirous after  finishing  his  work  to  go  into  private  Hfe.     We 
have  seen  how  earnestly  Washington  endeavored  to  establish 
an  army  of  the  United  States.     His  plan,  which,  at  the  time 
it  was  proposed,  congress  did  not  venture  to  reject,  was  now 
deliberately  demolished.    To  prevent  a  homogeneous  organiza- 
tion, it  not  only  left  to  each  of  them  the  exclusive  power  over 
its  militia,  but  the  exclusive  appointment  of  the  regimental 
officers  in  its  quota  of  land  forces  for  the  general  service. 

As  in  England,  so  in  America,  this  jealousy  did  not  extend 
to  maritime  affairs ;  the  separate  states  had  no  share  iu  the  ap- 
pointment of  officers  in  the  navy. 

As  the  king  in  England,  so  the  United  States  detennined 
on  peace  and  war,  sent  ambassadors  to  foreign  powers,  and 
entered  into  treaties  and  alliances;  but,  beside  their  general 
want  of  executive  poAver,  the  grant  to  make  treaties  of  com- 
merce was  limited  by  the  power  reserved  to  the  states  over 
imports  and  exports,  over  shipping  and  revenue. 

The  right  of  coining  money,  the  right  of  keeping  up  sliips- 
of  «var,  land  forces,  forts,  and  garrisons,  were  shared  by  con- 
gress with  the  respective  states.  No  state,  Massachusetts  not 
more  than  South  Carolina,  would  subordinate  its  law  of  treason 
to  the  will  of  congress.     The  furmation  of  a  class  of  national 


•A' 


1777. 


THE  CONFEDERATION. 


205 

statesmen  was  impeded  by  the  clause  which  forbade  any  man 
to  sit  m  congress  more  than  three  years  out  of  six;  nor  could 
the  same  member  of  congress  be  appointed  its  president  more 
than  one  year  in  any  term  of  three  years.    No  executive  dis- 
tmct  trom  the  general  congress  could  be  detected  in  the  sys- 
tem.   Judicial  power  over  questions  arising  between  the  states 
was  provided  for;  and  courts  might  be  established  to  exer- 
cise pi-iniary  jurisdiction  over  crimes  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  with  appellate  jurisdiction  over  captures,  but  there  was 
scarcely  the  rudiment  of  a  judiciary  from  which  a  court  for 
executing  the  ordinances   of  congress  could  be   developed 
Congress  was  incapable  of  effectual  supervision  over  olficers 
of  Its  own  appointment  and  in  its  own  service.     The  report 
of  Dickinson  provided  for  a  council;  but  this  was  nai-rowed 
down  to  "a  committee  of  states,"  to  be  composed  of  one  dele- 
gate from  each  state,  with  no  power  whatever  respecting  im- 
portant  business,  and  no  power  of  any  kind  except  tliat  with 
^yhlch  congress,  "  by  the  consent  of  nine  states,"  might  invest 
them  from  time  to  time. 

Each  state  retained  its  sovereignty,  and  all  power  not  ex- 
pressly delegated.     Under  the  king  of  England,  the  use  of  the 
veto  in  colonial  legislation  had  been  complained  of     There 
was  not  even  a  thought  of  vesting  congress  with  a  veto  on  the 
legislation  of  states,  or  subjecting  such  legislation  to  the  re- 
vision of  a  judicial  tribunal.     Each  state,  being  esteemed  in- 
dependent and  sovereign,  had  exclusive,  full,  and  final  powers 
in  every  matter  relating  to  domestic  police  and  government, 
to  slavery  and  manumission,  to  the  conditions  of  the  elective 
tranchise;  and  the  restraints  required  to  secure  loyalty  to  the 
central  government  were  left  to  be  6elf.im,)osed.     Incidental 
powers  to  carry  into  effect  the  powers  granted  to  the  United 
fetates  svere  withheld. 

To  complete  the  security  against  central  authority,  the 
articles  of  confederation  were  not  to  be  adopted  except  by  the 
assent  of  every  one  of  the  legislatures  of  the  thirteen  sepa- 
rate states ;_  and  no  amendment  might  be  made  without  an 
J"'i"'^I  nnanimity.  A  government  which  had  not  power  to 
levy  a  tax,  or  i-aine  a  soldier,  or  deal  directly  with  an  individual, 
or  keep  its  engagements  with  foreign  powers,  or  amend  its 


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r'sf, 


206      AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRAXCE. 


EP.  IV. :  oil.  XIV. 


constitution  without  tlic  unanimous  consent  of  its  members,  had 
not  enough  of  vital  force  to  keep  itself  alive.  But  a  higher 
spirit  moved  over  the  darkness  of  that  formless  void.  Not- 
withstanding the  defects  of  the  confederation,  the  congress  of 
the  United  States,  inspired  by  the  highest  wisdom  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  seemingly  without  debate,  imbodied 
in  their  work  four  capital  results,  which  Providence  in  its  love 
for  the  human  race  could  not  let  die. 

The  republics  of  Greece  and  Eome  had  been  essontially  no 
more  than  governments  of  cities.  AVhen  Rome  exchanged 
the  narro\\Tiess  of  the  ancient  municipality  for  cosmopolitan 
expansion,  the  republic,  from  the  false  jirinciple  on  which  it 
was  organized,  became  an  empire.  The  middle  ages  had  free 
towns  and  cantons,  but  no  national  republic.  Congress  had 
faith  that  one  republican  government  could  comprehend  a  con- 
tinental territory,  even  though  it  should  extend  from  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  to  the  uttermost  limit  of  Canada  and  the  eastern 
limit  of  Newfoundland. 

Having  thus  proclaimed  that  a  republic  may  equal  the 
widest  empire  in  its  bounds,  the  relation  of  the  I  ■  nited  States 
to  the  natural  rights  of  their  inhabitants  was  settled  with  supe- 
rior wisdom.  Some  of  the  states  had,  each  according  to  its  pre- 
vailing superstition  or  prejudice,  narrowed  the  rights  of  classes 
of  men.  One  state  disfranchised  Jews,  another  Catholics, 
another  deniers  of  the  Trinity,  another  men  of  a  complexion 
different  from  white.  The  United  States  in  congress  assem- 
bled, suffering  the  errors  in  one  state  to  eliminate  the  errors 
in  another,  rejected  every  disfranchisement  and  superadded 
none.  .  The  declaration  of  independence  said,  all  men  are 
created  ecpial ;  by  the  articles  of  confederation  and  perpetual 
union,  free  inhabitants  were  free  citizens. 

That  which  gave  reality  to  the  union  was  the  article  which 
secured  to  "  the  free  inhabitants "  of  each  of  the  states  "  all 
privileges  and  imnmnities  of  free  citizens  in  the  several  states.'' 
Congress  appeared  to  shun  the  term  "  people  of  the  United 
States."  It  is  nowhere  foimd  in  their  articles  of  confederation, 
and  rarely  and  only  accidentally  iii  their  vcjtes;  yet  l)y  this  act 
they  constituted  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  different  states  one 
people.      When  the  articles  of  confederation  reached  South 


1777. 


TOE   CUNFEDERATIOX. 


207 


Carolina  tor  confirmation,  it  was  perceived  that  they  secured 
equal  rights  of  inter-citizenship  in  the  several  states  to  the  free 
black  inhabitant.)f  any  state.     This  concession  was  opposed  in 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  and,  after  an  elaborate  speech 
by  William  Henry  Drayton,  the  articles  were  returned  to  con- 
gress with  a  recommendation  that  inter-citizenship  should  be 
confined  to  the  white  man;  but  congress,  by  a  vote  of  eight 
states  against  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  one  state  bein..  di- 
vKled,  refused  to  recede  from  the  universal  system  on  wliich 
American  institutions  were  to  be  founded.   The  decision  was  not 
due  to  impassioned  philanthropy :  slavery  at  that  day  existed  in 
every  one  of  the  thirteen  states;  .:id,  notwithstanding  many 
men  South  as  well  as  North  revolted  at  the  thought  of  continu- 
mg  tae  institution,  custom  scarcely  recognised  the  black  man 
as  an  equal ;  yet  congress,  with  a  fixedness  of  puii)osc  resting 
on  a  principle,  would   not  swerve  from  its  position       For" 
when  It  resolved  upon  independence  and  had  to  decide  on 
whom  a  demand  could  be  made  to  maintain  that  independence 
It  defined  as  members  of  a  colony  all  persons  abiding  ,vithin  it 
and  deriv,  .g  protection  from  its  laws.    I^ow,  therefore,  when 
mter-state  rights  were  to  be  confided  to  the  members  of  each 
state.  It  looked  upon  every  freeman  who  owed  primary  alle- 
giance to  the  state  as  a  citizen  of  the  state.     The  free  black  in 
habitant  owed  allegiance,  and  was  entitled  to  equal  civil  rio-hts 
and  so  was  a  citizen.     Congress,  while  it  left  the  regulatioli  of 
the  elective  franchise  to  the  judgment  of  each  state,  in  the  arti- 
cles of  confederation,  in  its  votes  and  its  treaties  with  other 
powers,  reckoned  all  the  free  inhabitants,  without  distinction 
ot  ancestry,  creed,  or  color,  as  subjects  or  citizens.     But  Amer- 
ica, though  the  best  representative  of  the  social  and  political 
accpusit.ons  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  not  the  parent  of 
the  Idea  in  modern  civilization  that  man  is  a  constituent  mem- 
ber of  the  state  of  his  birth,  irrespective  of  his  ancestry.     It 
was  already  the  ]niblic  law  of  Christendom.     Had  Amenca 
done  less,  she  would  have  been  a  laggard  among  the  nations. 

One  other  life-giving  excellence  distinguished  the  articles 
•>t  confederation.     The  instrument  was  suffused  with  the  idea 
of  securing  the  largest  liberty  to  individual  man.     In  the  an-  » 
cient  Greek  republic,  the  state  existed  before  the  individual  " 


.iiil 


208      AMERIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV, :  en.  XIV. 


!  k' 


\ 


i 

\ 


and  absorbed  tlic  individual.  Thouglit,  religious  opinion,  wor- 
ship, conscience,  amusements,  joys,  soitows,  all  activities  were 
regulated  by  the  state ;  the  individual  lived  only  as  an  integral 
part  of  tlie  state.  A  declaration  of  rights  is  a  declaration  of 
those  liberties  of  the  individual  which  the  state  cannot  justly 
control.  The  Greek  system  of  law  knew  nothing  of  such  liber- 
ties ;  the  Greek  citizen  never  spoke  of  the  rights  of  man ;  the 
individual  was  merged  in  the  body  politic.  At  last  a  govern- 
ment founded  on  consent  could  be  perfected ;  for  the  acknowl- 
edgment that  conscience  has  its  rights  had  broken  up  the 
unity  of  despotic  power,  and  confirmed  the  fi-eedom  of  the  in- 
dividual. Because  there  was  life  in  all  the  parts,  there  was 
the  sure  promise  of  a  well-organized  life  in  the  whole. 

Yet  the  young  rei)id>lic  failed  in  its  fii-st  effort  at  forming 
a  general  union.     The  smoke  in  the  flame  overpowered  the 
light.     "  The  articles  of  confederation  endeavored  to  reconcile 
a  partial  sovereignty  in  the  union  with  complete  sovereignty 
in  the  states,  to  subvert  a  mathematical  axiom  by  taking  away 
a  part  and  letting  the  whole  remain."    The  polity  then  formed 
could  hai-dly  be  called  an  organization,  so  little  did  the  parts 
mutually  correspond  and   concur  to  the  same   final   r.ctions. 
The  system  was  imperfect,  and  was  acknowledged  to  be  im- 
perfect.   A  better  one  could  not  then  have  been  accepted ; 
but  with  all  its  faults  it  contained  the  elements  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  a  more  perfect  union.     The  sentiment  of  nationality 
was  forming.     The  framers  of  the  confederacy  would  not  ad- 
mit into  that  instrument  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  Unitcu 
States,  and  described  the  states  as  so  many  sovereign  and  inde-, 
pendent   communities;   yet  already  in  the  circular  letter  of! 
November  1777  to  the  states,  asking  their  several  subscrip-l 
tions  to  the  plan  of  confederacy,  they  avowed  the  purpose  to 
secure  to  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  states  an  "existence  as  a 
free  people."     The  child  that  was  then  born  was  cradled  be- 
tween opposing  powers  of  evil;   if  it  will  live,   its  infant 
strength  must  strangle  the  twin  serpents  of  sepai'atism  and  ceu-. 
tral  despotism.       -V  „nLC-  ''  / 

of. 


(,  >' 


1777. 


TUE  T7INTER  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


209 


CHAPTEE   XV. 

THE  WINTER  AT   VALLEY  FOEGE.      BRITAIN   IN  WANT  OF   TROOPS. 

November  1777-April  1778. 

When  at  last  Washington  was  joined  by  troops  from  the 
northern  army,  a  clamor  arose  for  the  capture  of  Philadelphia 
Protected  by  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Delaware,  the  city  could 
be  approached  only  from  the  north,  and  on  that  side  a  chain 
of  fourteen  redoubts  extended  from  river  to  river.  Moreover, 
the  army  by  which  it  Avas  occupied,  having  been  reinforced 
from  New  York  by  more  than  three  thousand  men,  exceeded 
nmeteen  thousand.  Four  American  officers  voted  in  council 
for  an  assault  upon  the  lines  of  this  greatly  superior  force  • 
but  the  general,  sustained  by  eleven,  disregarded  the  murmm-s 
of  congress  and  rejected  "  the  mad  enterprise." 

With  cpiiekness  of  eye  he  selected  in  the  woods  of  White- 
marsh  strong  ground  for  an  encampment,  and  there,  within 
fourteen  miles  of  Philadelphia,  awaited  the  enemy,  of  whose 
movements  he  received  exact  and  timelv  intelligence.  On  the 
severely  cold  niglit  of  the  fourth  of  December  the  British, 
fourteen  thousand  strong,  marched  out  to  attack  the  American 
hues.  Before  daybreak  on  the  fifth  their  advance  party 
halted  on  a  ridge  beyond  Chestnut  Hill,  eleven  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  and  at  seven  their  main  body  formed  in  one  Hne, 
with  a  few  regiments  as  reserves.  The  Americans  occupied 
thickly  wooded  hills,  with  a  morass  and  a  brook  in  theii-  front. 
Opposite  the  P>ritisli  left  wing  a  breastwork  defended  the  only 
point  where  the  brook  could  be  easily  forded.  At  night  the 
British  force  rested  on  their  arms.  Washingt;)n  passed  the 
hours  in  strengthening  his  position ;   and  though,  according 


.1  : 


•  1  •! 


■m 


i  i; 


H    'h 


210     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  OH.  XV. 


I.   'I\ 


li  ( 


!  ; 


1   i' 


to  Kalb  wlio  was  present,  he  liad  Init  seven  tlionsand  really 
effective  men,  Le  wisliecl  for  an  engagement.     Near  the  end 
of  anotlier  day  Howe  marched  back  to  Germantown,  and  on 
the  next,  as  ii'  intending  a  surprise,  suddenly  returned  upon 
tlie   American   loft,   which   he   made   preparations   to   assail. 
Washuigton  delivered  hi  person  to  each  brigade  his  orders  on 
the  manner  of  receiving  their  enemy,  exhorting  to  a  reliance 
on  the  bayonet.    All  day  long,  and  until  .  ^lit  in  tlie  even- 
mg,  Howe  kept  up  his  reconnoitring,  but  found  the  American 
position  everywhere  strong  by  nature  and   by  art.     Notliing 
occurred   but  a  sharp  action  on   Edge  Hill  between   light 
troops  undov  Gist  and  Morgan's  riflemen  and  a  British  party 
led  by  General  Grey.     The  latter  lost  eighty-nine  in  killed 
and  wounded ;  the  Americans,  twenty-seven,  aniong  them  the 
brave  Major  Morris  of  New  Jersey.     On  the  eighth,  just  after 
noon,  the  British  suddenly  marched  by  the  shortest  road  to 
Philadelphia.     Their  loss  in  the  expedition  exceeded  one  him- 
dred.     Tlie  rest  of  the  season  Howe  made  no  excursions  ex- 
cept for  food  or  forage ;  and  Washington  had  no  choice  but 
to  seek  wintcr-cpiarters  for  his  suffering  soldiers ;  Avhile  Gates, 
with  Conway  and  Milflin,  formed  a  cabal  to  drive  Washington 
into  retirement  and  put  Gates  in  his  place. 

Military  affairs  had  thus  far  been  superintended  by  a  con- 
gressional committee.  After  some  prelude,  in  July  1777,  it 
was  settled  in  tlie  following  October  to  institute  an  executive 
board  of  war  of  five  persons  not  members  of  congress. 

Conway,  a  French  officer  of  Irish  descent,  liad  long  been 
eager  for  higher  rank.     In  a  timely  letter  to  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  a  friend  to  Conway,  Washington  wrote:  "His  merits 
exist  more  in  his  own  imagination  than  in  reality ;  it  is  a  maxim 
with  him  not  to  want  anything  which  is  to  be  obtained  by 
importunity;"  his  promotion  wo  ild  be  "a  real  act  of  injus- 
tice," likely  to  "incur  a  train  of  irremediable  evils.     To  sum 
up  the  v-diole,  T  have  been  a  slave  to  the  service ;  I  have  un- 
dergone more  than  most  men  are  aware  of  to  harmonize  so 
many  discordant  parts ;  but  it  will  be  impo8sil)le  for  me  to  be 
of  any  further  service  if  such  insniierable  difficulties  are  thrown 
in  ray  way."     Conway  breathed  out  his  discontent  to  Gates, 
writing  in  substance:  "Heaven  him  been  determined  to  save 


iliil 


1777. 


THE   WINTER  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


211 


your  country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  would 
have  ruined  it."     The  correspondents  of  Gates  did  not  scruple 
in  their  letters  to  speak  of  the  commander-in-chief  with  bitter- 
ness or  contenapt.     "  Tiiis  army,"  wrote  Reed,  "  notwithstand- 
nig  the  efforts  of  our  amiable  chief,  has  as  yet  gathered  no 
laurels.     I  pei-fectly  agree  with  that  sentiment  wliich  h^ids  to 
-equest  your  assistance."     On  the  seventh,  MifHin,  leaWng  his 
office  of  (piartermaster-general,  of  which  he  had  neglected  the 
duties,  yet  retaining  tlie  rank  of  major-general,  was  elected  to 
the  board  of  wai-.     The  injuri(jus  M-ords  of  Conway  having 
througli  Wilkinson  been  made  known  to  Washington,  on  the 
ninth  he  connnunicated  his  knowledge  of  them  to  Conway,  and 
to  him  alone.     Conway  in  an  interview  justiticd  them,  made  no 
apology,  and  nfter  the  interview  reported  his  defiance  of  Wash- 
ington to  Mifflin.     On  the  tenth,  Sullivan,  knowin.>-  the  opin- 
ion of  his  bv  ther  officers  and  of  his  chief,  and  that  on  a 
discussion  at  a  council  of  war  about  appointing  an  inspector- 
general  Conway's  ]3retensions  met  with  no  favor,  wrote  to  a 
member  of  congresss:  "Xo  man  can  behave  better  in  action 
than  General  Conway ;  his  regulations  in  his  brigade  are  much 
better  than  any  in  the  army ;  his  knowledge  of  military  matters 
far  exceeds  any  officer  we  have.     If  the  office  of  inspector- 
general  with  the  rank  of  major-general  was  given  him,  our 
ariny  would  soon  cut  a  diiTerent  figure  from  what  they  now 
do."     On  the  same  day  Wayne  expressed  his  purpose  "to 
follow  tlie  line  pointed  out  by  the  conduct  of  Lee,  Gates,  and 
Mifflin."     On  tlie  elcventli,  Conway,  foreseeing  tliat  Gates  was 
to  preside  at  the  board  of  war,  offered  to  form  for  him  a  plan 
for   the   irr.truction  of   the   army;   and,  on  the  fifteenth,  to 
advance  his  intrigue,  he  tendered  his  resignation  to  congress 
On  the  seventeenth,  Lovell  of  Massachusetts  wrote  to  Gates 
threatening  Waslungtcm  "with  the  mighty  torrent  of  public 
cLimor  and  vengeance,"  and  subjoined:  "How  different  your 
conduct  and  your  fortune!  this  amy  will  be  totally  lost  unless 
you  come  down  and  collect  the  virtuous  band  who  wish  to 
tight  under  your  banner."    On  the  twenty-first,  A\^avne,  for- 
getting the  disaster  that  had  attended  his  own  rashness,  dis- 
paraged Wasliington  as  having  more  than  once  sliglited  the 
favors  of  fortune.     On  the  twenty-fourth,  congress  received 


ii 


212     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  en.  XV. 


Uih 


■ii 


I 


s         i 


the  resignation  of  Conway,  and  referred  it  to  tlie  board  of  war, 
of  wliicli  Miiilin  at  that  time  was  the  Lead.     On  the  twenty- 
seventh  they  iilled  the  phices  in  that  boaj-d,  and  appointed 
Gates  its  president.     On  the  same  day  Lovell  wrote  to  Gates : 
"We  want  you  in  different  places;  we  want  you  most  near 
Germantown.     Good  God,  what  a  situation  we  are  in  I  how 
different  from  what  might  have  been  justly  expected  1 "  and 
he  represented  Washington  ae   a  general  who  collected  as- 
tonishing numbers  of  men  to  M'ear  out  stocldngs,  shoes,  and 
breeches,  and  "  Fabiused  affairs  into  a  very  disagreeable  pos- 
ture,"    On  the  twenty-eighth,  congress,  by  a  unanimous  reso- 
lution, declared  in  favor  of  carrying  on  a  winter's  campaign 
with  vigor  and  success,  and  sent  three  of  its  members  to  di- 
rect every  measure  which  circiumstances  might  recpiii-e.     On 
the  same  day  Mifflin,  exi^laining  to  Gates  how  Conway  had 
braved  the  connnander-in-chief,  volunteered  his  own  opinion 
that  the  extract  from  Conway's  letter  was  a  "collection  of  just 
sentiments."    Gates,  on  receiving  the  letter,  wrote  to  Conway : 
"  You  acted  with  all  the  dignity  of  a  virtuous  soldier."    He 
wished  "  so  very  valuable  and  polite  an  officer  might  remain 
in  the  service."     To  congress  he  complained  that  his  corre- 
spondence had  been  betrayed  to  Washington,  with  whoi     he 
came  to  an  open  rupture.     On  the  thirteenth  of  December 
congress,  following  Mifflin's  report,  appointed  Conway  inspec- 
tor-general, promoted  him  to  be  a  major-general,  made  his 
office  independent  of  the  connnander-in-chief,  and  referred 
him  to  the  boiird  of  war  for  the  regulations  which  he  was  to 
introduce.     Some  of  those  engaged  in  the  cabal,  "  which  had 
its  supporters  exclusively  in  the  JN'orth,"  wished  to  provoke 
Washington  to  resign  his  place. 

This  happened  just  as  Washington  at  Whitemarsh  had 
closed  the  campaign  with  honor.  The  problem  which  he  must 
next  solve  was  to  keep  together  through  the  cold  winter  an 
army  without  tents,  and  to  conline  the  British  to  the  environs 
of  rhiladelj)liia.  There  was  no  town  which  would  serve  the 
purpose.  ^  Valley  Forge,  on  the  Schuylkill,  but  twenty-one  miles 
from  Philadel[)hia,  admitted  of  defence  against  the  artillery  of 
those  days,  and  had  more  than  one  route  convenient  for  esca])e 
into  the  interior.     The  groui^d  lay  between  two  ridges  of  hills, 


1777. 


THE  WINTER  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


213 


and  was  covered  by  a  tliiek  forest.  As  his  men  moved  toward 
the  spot,  tliey  ^^•ore  in  need  of  clothes  and  blankets  and 
si  IOCS,  as  well  as  tents,  and  were  almost  as  often  witbont  pro- 
visions as  with  them.  On  the  nineteenth  they  arrived  at 
Valley  Forge,  with  no  covering.  From  his  life  in  the  woods, 
Washington  could  see  in  the  trees  a  town  of  log  cabins,  built 
in  regular  streets,  and  affording  shelter  enough  to  save  the 
army  from  dispersion.  The  order  for  their  erection  was  re- 
ceived by  officers  and  men  as  impossible  of  execution;  and 
they  were  astonished  at  the  ease  with  which,  as  the  work  of 
their  Christmas  holidays,  they  changed  the  forest  into  huts 
thatched  with  boughs  in  the  order  of  a  regular  encampment. 

Washington  was  followed  to  Yalley  Foi-ge  by  letters  from 
congress  transmitting  the  remonstrance  of  the  council  and  as- 
sembly of  Pennsylvania  against  his  going  into  winter-quarters. 
To  this  reproof  Washington,  on  the  twenty-third,  after  layin«- 
deserved  blame  upon  ]\[ifflin  for  neglect  of  duty  as  quarter- 
master-general, replied:  "For  the  want  of  a  two  days'  supply 
of  provisions,  an  opportunity  scarcely  ever  offered  of  talcing 
an  advantage  of  the  enemy  that  has  not  been  either  totally 
obstnicted  or  greatly  impeded.     Men  are  confined  to  hospitals, 
or  m  farmers'  houses  for  want  of  shoes.     We  have  this  day 
no  less  than  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men 
in  camp  unfit  for  duty,  because  they  are  barefoot  and  otherwise 
naked.     Our  whole  strength  in  continental  troops  amounts  to 
no  more  than  eight  tliousand  two  hundred  in  canq>  fit  for  duty. 
Since  the  fourth  instant  our  numbers  fit  for  duty  from  hard- 
ships and  exposures  have  decreased  nearly  two  thousand  men 
Numbers  still  are  obliged  to  sit  all  night  by  fires.     Gentlemen 
rcprol)ate  the  going  into  winter-quarters  as  much  as  if  they 
thought  the  soldiers  were  made  of  stocks  or  stones.     I  can  as- 
sure those  gentlemen  that  it  is  a  much  easier  and  less  distressing 
thmg  to  draw  remonstrances  in  a  comfortable  room  by  a  good 
fireside  than  to  occupy  a  cold,  bleak  hill,  and  sleep  under  frost 
and  snow  ^vithout  clothes  or  blankets.     However,  although  they 
seem  to  have  little  feding  for  the  naked  and  distressed  soldiers, 
1  teel  superal)undantly  for  them,  and  from  my  soul  I  pity 
those  miseries  which  it  is  neither  in  my  power  to  reheve  or 
prevent." 


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214    AMERICA   IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  cu.  xv. 

While  tlio  8liivcriii<r  soldiers  were  eliapiTig  the  logs  for  their 
cabins,  the  clamor  of  the  rennsylvauians  continued ;  and,  the 
day  after  Christinas,  Sullivan,  who  held  with  both  sides,  gave 
Ins  written  advice  to  Washington  to  yield  and  attack  Howe  in 
riiiladelphia,  "  risking  every  consequence  in  an  action."  On 
the  last  day  of  the  year  an  anonymous  writer  in  the  "  New 
Jersey  Gazette,"  at  Trenton,  supposed  to  be  Benjamin  Rush, 
began  a  series  of  articles  under  the  name  of  a  French  officer, 
to  set  forth  the  unrivalled  glory  of  Gates,  who  had  conquered 
veterans  with  militia,  pointing  out  plainly  AVarhiugton's  suc- 
cessor. 

The  next  year  opened  gloomily  at  Yalley  Forge.     To  the 
touching  account  of  the  condition  of  the  army,  congress,  which 
had  not  provided  one  magazine  for  winter,  made  no  response 
except  a  promise  to  the  soldiers  of  one  month's  extra  pay,  and 
a  renewal  of  authority  to  take  the  articles  necessary  for  their 
comfortable  subsistence.    On  the  fifth  of  January  1778,  Wash- 
ington renewed  his  remonstrances :  "  It  will  never  answer  to 
procure  supplies  of  clothing  or  provision  by  coercive  measures. 
Such  procedures  may  give  a  momentary  relief,  but,  if  repeated, 
besides  spreading  disaffection,  jealousy,  and  fear  among  the 
pco])le,  never  fail,  even  in  the  most  veteran  troo])s  undtT  the 
most  rigid  and  exact  discipline,  to  raise  in  the  soldiery  a  dis- 
position to  plunder,  difficult  to  suppress,  and  not  only  ruinous 
to  Ihe  iixhabitants,  but,  in  many  instances,  to  anuies  themselves. 
I  regret  the  occasion  that  comi)elled  us  to  the  measure  the 
other  day,  and  shall  consider  it  among  the  greatest  of  our  mis- 
fortun^es  if  we  should  be  under  the  necessity  of  practicing  it 
again."     Still,  congress  did  no  more  than,  on  the  tenth  and 
twelfth  of  January,  appoint  Gates  ar  1  Mifflin,  with  four  or 
live  o^thers,  to  repair  to  head-quarters  and  concert  reforms. 

While  those  who  ^dshed  the  general  out  of  the  way  urged 
him  to  some  rash  enterprise,  or  sent  abroad  nmiors  that  he  was 
about  to  resign,  Benjamin  Rush,  in  a  letter  to  Patrick  Henry, 
represented  the  army  of  Washington  as  having  no  general  at 
their  head,  and  went  on  to  say :  "  A  Gates,  a  Lee,  or  a  Conway 
would  in  a  few  weeks  render  them  irresistible.  Some  of  the 
contents  of  this  letter  ought  to  be  made  public,  in  order  to 
awaken,  enlighten,  and  alarm  our  country."     This  communi- 


1777. 


THE   WINTER   AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


215 


cation,  to  which  Riisli  did  not  sign  hi.s  name,  Patrick  Ilenrj 
received  with  scorn,  and  noticed  only  by  sending  it  to  Wash- 
ington.    An  aiK.nyinons  paper  of  the  like  stamp,  transmitted 
to  Henry  LannMis,  then  i)resident  of  congress*,  took  the  same 
direction.    Meantime,  the  council  and  assembly  of  remisylvania 
renewed  to  congress  their  wish  that  Pluladel])hia  might  bo 
recovered  and  the  J3ritish  driven  away.     Congress  haifed  the 
letter  as  proof  of  a  rising  spirit,  and  directed  the  committee 
appointed  to  go  to  camp  to  consult  on  the  desired  attack  with 
the  government  of  Pennsylvania  and  with  General  Washington. 
Conway  having  vainly  sti-iven  to  alienate  Lafayette  from 
Washington,  and  even  to  induce  him  to  abandon  the  United 
States,  the  board  of  war  sought  to  entice  the  young  repre- 
sentative of  France  by  dazzling  him  with  ideas  of  glory.     In 
concert  with  Conway,  and  without   consulting  Washington, 
they  induced  congress  to  sanction  a  winter  expedition  agaii  t 
Canada,  under  Lafayette,  who  was  not  yet  twenty-one  years 
old,  with  Conway  for  his  second  in  command,  and  with  Stark. 
At  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor  by  Gates  at  Yorktown,  La- 
fayette braved  the  intriguers,  and  made  them  all  drink  his 
toast  to  the  health  of  then-  general.     Assured  by  Gates  that 
he  would  command  an  army  of  three  thousand  men,  and  that 
Stark   would    have   already  destroyed    the    ship])lng  at   St. 
John's,  Lafayette,  having  obtained  from  congress  Kalb  as  liis 
second,  and  Washington  as  his  direct   superior,  repaired  to 
All)any.     There  the  three  major-generals  of  the  expedition 
met,  and  were  attended  or  followed  by  twenty  French  officers. 
Stark  wrote  for  orders.     The  availal)le  force  for  the  con(piest, 
counting  a  regiment  which  Gates  detached  from  the  army  of 
Washington,  did  not  exceed  a  thousand.     For  these  there  was 
no  store  of  provision,  nor  clothing  suited  to  the  climate  of 
Canada,  nor  means  of  transportation.     Two  years'  service  in 
the  northern  department  camiot  leave  to  Gates  the  ploa  of 
ignorance ;  his  plan  showed  his  utter  want  of  administrative 
capacity ;  it  accidentally  relieved  the  country  of  Conway,  who, 
writing  petulantly  to  congress,  found  his  resignation,  which 
he  had  meant  only  as  a  complaint,  irrevocably  accepted.     La- 
fayette and  Kalb  Avere  recalled. 

Slights  and  selfish  cabals  could  wound  the  sensibility,  but 


ill 


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216    AMEIIICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    EP.iv.jcn.xv. 

not  airect  the  conduct  of  Washington.     His  detractors  took  an 
unfair  advantage,  f,.r  ho  was  ,.bh-ged  to  conceal  the  weakness 
ot  h^s  annj  from  tlie  enemy,  and  theref..re  from  the  pul.lic. 
10  \\  ilham  (}ordon,  wlio  was  gatliering  materials  for  a  liistorv 
of  the  war,  he  wrote  freely:  "Either  iiiterested  nor  ambitious 
views  led  me  into  the  service.     I  did  not  solicit  the  connnand, 
but  accepted  it  after  much  entreaty,  with  all  that  <lilHdence 
which  a  conscious  want  of  ability  and  experience  equal  to  the 
discharge  of  so  important  a  trust  must  naturally  excite  in  a 
nund  not  quite  devoid  of  thought;  and,  after  I  did  engage, 
pursued  the  great  line  of  my  duty  and  the  object  in  view,  as 
tar  as  my  judgment  could  direct,  as  pointedly  a.s  the  needle  to 
tlie  pole.     No  person  ever  heard  me  drop  an  expression  that 
had  a  tendency  to  resignation.     The  same  principles  that  led 
me  to  embark  in  the  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great 
i^ntain  operate  with  additional  force  at  this  day;  nor  is  it  my 
desire  to  Anthdraw  my  services,  while  they  are  considered  of 
importance  to  the  present  contest.     There  is  not  an  otHcer  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States  that  would  return  to  the 
sweets  of  domestic  life  with  more  heartfelt  joy  than  I  should, 
but  J  mean  not  to  shrink  in  the  cause." 

In  his  remonstrances  with  congress  he  wrote  with  plain- 
ness, but  with  moderation.     His  calm  dignity  alike  irritated 
and  overawed  his  adversaries;  and  nothing  could  shake  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  or  divide  the  alfections  of  the  annv 
or  permanently  distract  the   majority   of  congress.      Those 
M'ho  had  been  most  ready  to  cavil  at  him  soon  wished  their 
rash   words    benevolently  interpreted    or  forgotten.      Gates 
denied  theeharge  of  being  in  a  league  to  supersede  Washing- 
ton as  a  wicked,  false,  diabolical  calumny  of  incendiaries,  and 
would  not  believe  that  any  such  plot  existed  ;  Mitliin  exoner- 
ated himself  m  more  equivocal  language;  and  both  retired 
from   he  committee  that  was  to  repair  to  head-quartei-s.     The 
French  minister  loudly  ex-pressed  to  the  officers  from  his  coun- 
ty'his  disapprobation  of  their  taking  part  in  any  cabal  what- 
ever.    In  the  following  July,  Conway,  thinking  himself  mor- 
tally wounded   in  a  duel,  wrote  to  Washington  :  ''  My  career 
wil  soon  be  over;  therefore  justice  and  truth  prompt  me  to 
declare  my  last  sentiments.     You  are  in  my  eyes  the  great  and 


1777-1778.        THE   WIXTER  AT  VALLEY   FOPGE.  217 

good  niati.     May  you  long  enjoy  the  love,  veneration,  and  es- 
teem ot  these  states,  whose  lil)erties  you  have  asserted  by  your 
vu-tucs. '     The  coinnuttee,  which  toward  the  end  of  Jamiary 
was  hnally  sent   to  consnlt  with  Washington,  was  composed 
excmsively  of  members  of  congress ;  and  the  majoritv  of  them 
especially  Charles  Carroll  of  ^[aryland  and  J.ilm  Ilarvey  of 
^  irgima,  were  his  friends.     They  discerned  at  once  the  fidse- 
hood  ot  the  rumors  against  Washington.     John  Ilarvey  said 
to  lam:  "If  yon  had   but   explained  yourself,  these  reports 
would  have  ceased  long  ago."     And  his  answer  was  :    ■  How 
could  I  have  thrown  oif  the  blame  without  doing  in,  -y  to 
the  common  cause?"*     But,  in  the  procrastinathm  of  aetivo 
measures  of  relief,  the  departments  of  the  quartermaster  and 
commissary  remained  like  clocks  with  so  many  checks  that 
thoy  cannot  go.     Even  so  late  as  the  eleventh  of  February 
Dana,  one  of  the  committee,  reported  that  men  died  for  the 
want  of  straw  or  other  bedding  to  raise  them  from  the  cold 
damp  earth.     Inoculation  was  for  a  like  reason  delayed.     Al- 
most every  species  of  camp-transportation  was  performed  by 
men  who,  witliout  a  murmur,  yoked  themselves  to  little  car- 
nages of  thoir  own  making,  or  loaded  their  fuel  and  provisions 
on  then-  backs.     Sometimes  fuel  was  wanting,  when  for  want 
ot  shoes  and  stockings  they  could  not  walk  through  the  snow 
to  cut  It  m  the  neighboi-ing  woods.     Some  l)rigades  had  been 
four  days  without  meat.      For  days  together  the  army  was 
without  bread.     There  was  danger  that  the  troops  would  perish 
from  famine  or  disperse  in  search  of  food. 

All  this  time  the  British  soldiers  in  Philadelphia  were  well 

provided  for,  and  the  officei-s  quartered  upon  the  inhabitants 

riie  days  were  spent  in  pastime,  the  nights  in  entertainments 

by  a  proportionate  tax  on  the  pay  and  allowances  of  each  officer 

a  nov.se  was  opened  for  daily  resort  and  for  weekly  1,alls,  with 

a  gaming-table,  and  a  room  devoted  to  the  playe-s  of  chess 

Thnce  a  week  dramas  were  enacted  by  amatcu'r  performoi-s 

Ihe  curtain   painted  by  Andre  was   gi-eatly  admired.     The 

officers,  among  whom  all  ranks  of  the  British  aristocracy  were 

represented,  lived  in  open  licentiousness.     At  a  grand  review, 

an  English  girl,  mistress  of  a  colonel  and  dressed  in  the  color^ 

*  Mazzei :  Ilcclicrcho?,  iv.,  120. 


•Ml 

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u  i: 


218    AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANCE.    kv.iv.- cn.xr. 

of  Ills  regiuicut,  drove  down  the  line  in  her  open  carriao-e 
witli  great  ostentation.  The  pursuit  of  pleasure  was  so  eag^r 
that  an  attack  in  winter  was  not  added  to  the  trials  of  die 
army  at  Valley  Forge,  even  though  at  one  time  it  was  reduced 
to  live  thousand  men. 

During  the  Avinter  the  memhers  present  in  congress  were 
sometimes  only  nine,  rarely  seventeen  ;  of  former  members 
Irankhn,  Jellerson,  John  llutledge,  Jay,  and  others  were  em- 
ployed elsewhere,  and  John  Adams  had  recently  been  elected 
to  succeed  Deane  as  connnlssioner  in  France.     The  want  of 
power  explains  the  inefficiency  of  congress.     It  proposed  in 
January  to   borrow   ten   millions  of  dollars,  but   it   had   no 
credit.     So  in  January,  February,  and  ]\Iarch  two  millions  of 
paper  money  were   ordered   to   be   issued,  and  in  April  six 
and  a  half  millions  more.     These  emissions  were  rapidly  fol- 
lowed by  corresponding  depreciations.     When   the  currency 
lost  Its  value,  congress  would  have  had  the  army  serve  on  from 
disinterested  patriotism  ;  but  AV^ashington  pointed  out  the  qual- 
ity 111  human  nature  which  does  not  permit  practical  affairs  to 
be  conducted  through  a  succession  of  years  by  a  great  variety 
of  persons  without  regard  to  equitable  interests  and  just  claims ; 
and,  after  months  of  resistance,  officers  who  should  serve  to' 
the  end  of  the  wai-  were  promised  half-i)ay  for  seven  years 
privates  a  sum  of  eighty  dolhirs. 

The  opportunity  of  keeping  u])  an  army  by  voluntary  en- 
listments having  been  thrown  away  by  the  jealousy  of  con- 
gress, Wiishington,  in  February,  in  a  particular  manner  laid 
before  the  congressional  committee  of  arrangement,  then  with 
the  army  at  A'alley  Forge,  a  plan  of  an  annual  draft  as  the 
surest  and  most  certain,  if  not  the  only,  means  left  for  conduct- 
ing the  war  ''on  a  j)roi)er  and  respectable  gnjund."     Toward 
the   end   of  the    month  congress  adopted   the    advice,   but 
changed  its  character  to  that  of  a  transient  expedient.     It  di- 
rected the  continental  battalions  of  all  the  states,  except  South 
Carolina  and  Cieorgia,  to  be  completed  by  drafts  from  their 
mihtia,  but  limited  the  term  of  service  to  nine  months.     The 
execution  of  the  measure  was  unequal,  for  it  depended  on  the 
good-will  of  the  several  states ;  but  the  scattered  villao-es  pa- 
raded their  militia  for  the  draft  with  sufficient  regularity  to 


1778. 


THE   WINTER  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


219 

save  the  army  from  dissolution.  Vamum,  a  brigadier  of 
Rhode  Ishiud  proposed  the  emancipation  of  slaves  in  that 
state,  on  condition  of  their  enlisting  in  the  army  for  the  war 
The  scheme  approved  by  Washington,  and  by  him  referred  to 
Cooke  the  governor  of  the  state,  was  accepted.  Every  ubl^ 
bodied  slave  in  Khode  Island  received  by  law  hberty  to  enlist 
m  lie  army  tor  the  war.  On  passing  muster,  he  became  free 
and  entited  to  al  the  wages  and  encouragements  given  by 
congress  to  any  soldier.  The  st.  te  made  some  compensation 
to  their  masters.  ^ 

^  Unable  to  force  a  defaulting  agent  to  a  settlement,  congress 
in  February  asked  the  legislatures  of  the  several  stated  to  clact 
laws  for  he  recovery  of  debts  due  to  the  United  States;  and 
It  invited  the  supreme  executive  of  every  state  to  watch  the 
behavior  of  a  1  civil  and  military  officers  of  the  United  States 
in  the  execution  of  their  offices. 

The  regulation  of  the  staff  of  the  army  was  shaped  by 
Joseph  Reed,  now  a  member  of  congress  and  of  the  committee 
son   by  congress  to  the  camp.     Notwithstanding  the  distresses 
of  the  country,  the  system  was  founded  on  the  maxim  of  larL^e 
emoluments,  especially  for  the  head  of  the  quartermaster's  de- 
partment;  and  for  that  head  Greene  was  selected,  with  two 
family  connections  of  Reed  as  his  assistants.     The  former  was 
0  be  with  the  army;  the  other  two,  of  whom  one  was  super- 
fluous,  were  stationed  near  congress,  and,  by  an  agreement 
among  themselves,  the  emoluments  in  the  shape  of  commis- 
sions were  to  be  divided  equally  betM-een  the  three.     All  sub- 
ordmate  apj>ointments  were  to  be  made  by  the  quarterniaster- 
gonera    himself,  and   their  emoluments  were  likewise  to  be 
derived  from  commissions.     The  system  was  arranged  and  car- 
ed   hrongh   congress  independently  of   AVashington,  who, 
thoug  I  repeatedly  solicited,  would  never  sanction  it  by  his  ap! 
pvoval.     Gi-eene  was  importunate  in  his  demands  to  retain  the 
command  of  a  division  ;  on  that  point  Washington  was  inflexi- 
We.    After  more  than  another  month  the  system  of  centrali- 
zation M.IS  extended  to  tlie  commissary  department.     To  in- 
crease us  profits  by  furnishing  supplies  to  the  armv,  Greene 
d  not  sor.q,e  to  enter  into  a  most  secret  partnei-ship  with 
the  hcad^      ha    department,  a  third  partner,  nut  in  oiHee, 


mi 


id.    I 


111    i 


V:      I 


220     AMERICA   IX  ALLIANCE   Tnill   F.IAN-OE.     ep.  iv.;  on.  X7. 

being  the  only  one  known  to  the  pnbh-c.  Wlien  he  was  cen- 
sured for  his  desire  of  gaining  wealth  from  his  office  as  miar- 
termaster-general,  he  offered  the  excuse  that,  as  he  made  a 
sacnlice  ot  his  connnand  of  a  division  and  so  of  his  chances  of 
glory  m  tlie  held,  he  had  a  right  to  be  compensated  by  lam-e 
emoluments.  -^  j       & 

The  place  of  inspector-general  fell  to  Baron  Steuben,  a 
Prussian  officer,  then  forty-seven  years  of  age.     The  hiU 
mditary  rank  which  he  assumed  without  right  but  without 
question,  the  good  opinion  of  Yergennes  and  Saint-Gemain 
the  recommendation  of  Franklin,  the  halo  of  havino-  served 
dunng  tiie  seven  years'  war  under  the  great  Frederic^and  real 
merit,  secured  for  him  an  ajipointment  as  major-general     On 
the  twenty-third  of  Febniary  he  was  welcomed  to  Valley 
J^orge.  ^  He  benefited  the  country  of  his  adoption  by  "intro- 
ducing into  the  array  a  regular  formation  and  exact  discipline 
and  by  establisliing  a  spirit  of  order  and  economy  m  the  in- 
tenor  administration  of  the  regiments."  * 

Yet  there  remained  a  dee]>ly  seated  conflict  of  oiunion  be- 
tween congress  and  the  commander-in-chief  on  questions  of 
pnnciple  and  policy.     Washington  would  from  the  first  have 
had  men  enlisted  for  tlie  war;  congress,  from  jealousy  of 
standing  armies,  had  insisted  upon  short  enlistmeiits.     Wash- 
ington wished  the  exchange  of  prisoners  to  be  conducted  on 
one  uniform  nile ;  congress  required  a  respect  to  the  law  of 
treason  of  each  separate  state.     Washington  would  have  one 
continental  army;  congress,  an  array  of  thirteen  sovereignties 
Congress  was  satisfied  with  the  araount  of  its  power  as  a  help^ 
less  coraraittee ;  Washington  wished  a  union  with  efficient 
powers  of  govemraent.     Congress  guarded  separate  indepen- 
dence; the  patriotisra  of  Wasliington  took  a  wider  range,  and 
in  return  the  public  affection,  radiating  from  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  met  in  hira.    All  this  merit,  and  this  poi.ularity 
and  aie  undivided  attachment  of  the  army,  made  congress 
more  sensil)le  of  their  own  relative  weakness.     They  felt^hat 
their  perfect  control  over  tlie  general  was  due  to  his  own 
nature  and  that  nature  could  not  be  fully  judged  of  before 
the  end.     ^or  was  it  then  known  how  completely  the  safety 
*  Ilaiuiltou'a  Works,  ii.,  229. 


1778. 


TDE  WINTER  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 


221 

ot  r  wLtople"'"'"-^  "^"''"'■™  '"^  ="  '"«  «'^™*' 
To  allay  the  jealousy  of  congress,  Washington,  on  the 

twonty-hrs  of  April,  wrote  to  one  of  its  delegates :  "Undo 
operhnu tafons  it  is  eertainly  true  that  standing  armi J™ 
dangerous  to  a  state.  The  p,.ej„diees  of  other  co.fntrie8T,a™ 
only  gone  to  them  in  time  of  peace,  and  from  their  being  U™ 
hngs.  t  ts  our  policy  to  be  prejudiced  agdnst  them  n  hne 
of  war,  though  they  are  citizens,  having  all  the  ties  and  inter! 
est  o  citizens,  atid  in  mo.t  caaes  property  totally  unconnected 
wnh  the  md.ta,7  Hne.  The  jealousy,  impohtic  in  the  extreme 
e.an  answer  not  a  single  good  purpose.     It  is  unjust,  beetle 

"^rfto  thr  *'r  *>■■*;-'»'- '-raid  a'n.oWlctd 
regard  to  the  procecdmgs  of  congress  than  the  army;  for 
without  arrogance  or  the  smallest  deviation  from  truth  i  may 
be  saKl  that  no  history  now  extant  can  furnish  an^uSanc"  S 
an  army  s  suffern,g  such  uncommon  hardships  as  ours  h  done 
and  bcarmg  them  with  the  same  patience  and  fortitude  tS 
suhmmmg  without  a  murmur  is  a  proof  of  patience  and  obe  I^ 
ence  which  m  my  opinion  can  scarce  be  paralleled.  Thet 
iTfl  e'ltvl      f  ™"°  ,™™"?'™«'^'«  »'■  applications  to  congress 

ho  lllbei    tP   •"■,'  '"""  ""  """y'»'"l  ^'-™  -deed 
should  „e  be  If  this  pnvilege  were  denied ;  but  these  will  not 

authorize  nor  even  excuse  a  jealousy  that  they  are  tCfore 
aiming  at  unreasonable  powers,  or  making  strides  subver  "ve 

tte  si loidd  all,  congress  and  army,  be  considered  as  one  people 

he™cnd>-''rr'""''«  °"  *°  ^""^  principle 'and'  to 
.he  amo  cud.      lu  framing  an  oath  of  fidelity  for  all  civil  and 

miliary  officers,  congress,  much  as  it  avoided  the  ex    clou 

maile  them  swear  that  the  "  people  of  the  United  StiSs'- 3 

no  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain.    The  eoldic-s  seiw 

■ng  nuder  one  common  flag,  to  establish  one  commo,    inX 

staw  for  bcddmg,  of  p,,y  in  a  currency  of  ii.xed  v.aluc,  of  ,*™. 
^t  2  better  of";?'"™:  "'•"•'"*-'  ''''"  i"''  d-»"'-tTo 

The  troops  of  Burgoyue  remained  in  the  environs  of  Bos- 


i: 


I  • 


K  ff 


'■'v 


f 

!  • 


:ic; 


i  ^l 


■'     I 

11 


222    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRAXCE.    ep.  iv.;  on.  xv, 


,i  3i 


'^'    I 


I  i 


ton.  As  if  propariiig  an  cxcnsc  for  a  total  disengagomenl 
from  his  ohligatioiis,  Bnrgoyne,  complaining  without  reason 
of  the  quarters  jirovided  for  liis  oflicers,  wrote  and  insisted 
that  the  United  Stiites  had  violated  the  puhlie  faith,  and  re- 
fused to  congress  descriptive  lists  of  the  non-eomniissionod 
officers  and  soldiers  who  were  not  to  serve  in  America  during 
the  war.  On  those  grounds  congress  suspeiuled  tlic  em])arka- 
tion  of  the  troops  under  his  conn nand  till  it  should  receive 
notice  of  a  ratification  of  the  convention  hy  the  court  of  Great 
Britain.     Ihirgojne  sailed  for  England  on  his  ])arole. 

To  countera(!t  the  arts  of  the  British  emissaries  among  the 
Indians  on  the  borders  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  Colonel 
Nathan i(!l  Gist  Avas  connnissioned  to  take  into  the  puhlie  ser- 
vice two  huiulrod  of  the  red  men  and  liftj  of  the  white  inhahi- 
tants  of  the  neighboring  counties.  Care  was  taken  to  preserve 
the  friendship  of  the  Oneidas. 

The  American  militia  of  the  sea  wore  restlessly  active. 
In  the  night  of  the  twenty-s»weuth  of  January  a  pi-ivateer  took 
the  I'ort  of  New  Providence,  one  of  the  Bahama  isles,  made  prize 
of  a  British  vessel  of  war  of  sixteen  guns,  Avhich  had  gone  in 
for  repairs,  and  recaptured  live  American  vessels.  ()u  the 
seventh  of  ]\[arch,  Biddle,  in  the  Randolph,  a  United  States 
frigate  of  thii-ty-six  gims  on  a  ci-uise  from  Charleston,  fall- 
ing in  with  the  Yarmouth,  a  British  ship  of  sixty-four  guns, 
hoisted  the  stars  and  stripes,  iired  a  broadside,  and  continued 
the  engagement  till  his  ship  went  down. 

The  king  of  Englaiul  succeeded  but  poorly  in  his  nego- 
tiations for  subsidiary  troops.  The  crazy  prince  of  Auhalt- 
Zerbst,  who  ruled  over  but  three  Imndred  S(piare  miles  with 
twenty  thousand  iidiabitants,  after  unceasing  importunities, 
bargained  with  tne  king  of  England  to  deliver,  at  his  own  risk, 
twelve  hundred  and  twenty-eight  men.  On  their  way  to  the 
place  of  embarkation,  its  tltey  passed  near  the  frontier  of 
Prussia,  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  of  them  deserted  in 
ten  days,  and  the  number  iinally  delivered  was  less  than  half 
of  what  was  promised.  When  they  arrived  at  their  destination 
in  Quebec,  Carleton  the  govi>rnoi',  having  no  orders  respecting 
them,  would  not  siilfer  them  to  disembark  till  a  messenger 
brought  back  orders  from  England. 


1778. 


BRITAIN  IN  WANT  OF  TROOPS. 


223 

To  make  good  the  loss  of  Hessians,  the  landgrave  of  Ilesse- 
Cassol  nnpressed  men  wherever  he  could  do  so  with  irapunitv 
The  heartless  meanness  of  the  Brunswick  princes  would  pass 
belief,  If  It  wa.  not  officially  authenticated.    Thej  begged  that 
the  Lrunswickers,  who  surrendered  at  Saratoga,  mightnot  find 
heu.  way  back  to  their  homes,  where  they  wouFd  spoil  the 
traffic  in  sodiers  by  their  complaints,  but  be  sent  rather  to 
the  British  West  Indies.     The  princes  who  first  engaged  in 
the  trade  in  soldiers  were  jealous  of  competitors,  and  dropped 
hmts  that_  the  states  of  Wurtemberg,  where  Schiller  ran  the 
riskot  being  assistant  surgeon  to  a  regiment  of  mercenaries 
would  never  sulfer  a  contract  by  their  duke  to  be  consum- 
mated ;  that  Protestant  England  ought  not  to  employ  troops 
of  the  elector  palatine  because  they  were  Roman  Catholics 

Had  officers  or  men  sent  over  to  America  uttered  com- 
plaints, they  would  have  been  shot  for  mutiny ;  Mirabeau,  then 
a  fugitive  in  nolland,  lifted  up  the  voice  of  the  civilization  of 
his  day  agamst  the  trade,  and  spoke  to  the  peoples  of  Ger- 
many  and  the  soldiers  themselves:  "What  new  madness  is 
tliis^    Alas,  miserable  men,  you  burn  down  not  the  camp  of 
an  enemy,  but  your  own  hopes !    Germans !  what  brand  do  you 
suffer  to  be  put  upon  your  forehead  ?    You  war  against  a  peo- 
ple who  have  never  wronged  you,  who  fight  for  a  righteous 
cause,  and  set  you  the  noblest   pattern.     They  break   their 
chains.    Imitate  their  example.    Have  you  not  the  same  claim 
to   honor  and   right  as  your  princes?     Yes,  without  doubt. 
Men  stand  higher  than  princes.     Of  all  nilers,  conscience  is 
tlie  iugliest.     You,  peoples  that   are  cheated,  humbled,  and 
sold,  fiy  to  America,  but  there  embrace  your  brothers.     In  the 
spacious  places  of  refuge  which  they  open  to  suffering  humani- 
ty, learn  to  apply  social  institutions  to  the  advantage  of  every 
member  of  society."     Against  this  tocsin  of  resolution  the 
andgrave  of  Hesse  defended  himself  on  principles  of  feudal 
aw  and  legitimacy;  and  Mirabeau  rejoined:  "AVhen  power 
breaks  the  c.npact  which  secured  and  limited  its  rights,  then 
resistance  becomes  a  duty.     To  recover  freedom,  insurrection 
becomes  just.     There  is  no  crime  like  the  crime  against  the 
rreedom  of  the  people." 

When  on  the  twentieth  of  JN'-ovember  the  king  of  En-land 


Ir 

Mr 

m   '     • "  • 

ma       * 

ft   r 


Mi;: 


h'  ■'  t  .       (I 


Mm';  11  ; 


224    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE   WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  on.  xy. 

opened  the  session  of  parliament,  only  three  systems  were  pro- 
posed    ihe  king  insisted  on  a  continuation  of  tlie  war,  without 
regard  to  the  waste  of  life  or  treasure,  till  the  colonies  should 
be  reduced  to  subordination.     Chatham  said:   "France   has 
msuked  jou,  and  our  ministers  dare  not  interpose  with  dignity 
or  effect.     My  lords!  you  cannot  conquer  America.    In  three 
campaigns  we  have  done  nothing  and  suffered  much.     You 
may  swell  every  expense,  accumulate,  every  assistance  you  can 
buy  or  borrow,  traffic  and  barter  with  every  little  pitiful  Ger- 
man prmce  that  sells  and  sends  his  subjects  to  the  shambles  of 
a  foreign  prince:  your  efforts  are  forever  vain  and  impotent, 
doubly  so  from  this  mercenary  aid  on  which  you  rely  for  it 
irritates  to  an  incurable  resentment.     If  I  were  an  American 
as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  was  landed  in 
my  country,  I  never  would  lay  down  my  arms;  never,  never 
never.      And  he  denounced  the  alliance  with  "the  horrible 
hell-hounds  of  savage  war."     His  advice,  freed  from  rhetoric 
was  to  conciliate  America  by  a  change  of  ministry,  and  to 
make  war  on  France.     The  third  plan,  which  was  that  of  the 
Kockmgham  party,  was  expressed  by  the  duke  of  Richmond  • 
1  would  sooner  give  up  every  claim  to  America  than  continue 
an  unjust  and  cruel  civil  war."    A  few  days  later.  Lord  Chat- 
ham mveighed  against  a  sermon  which  Markham,  the  arch- 
bishop of  York,  had  preached  and  published,  rellecting  on  the 
_  Ideas  of  savage  liberty"  in  America,  and  denounced  his  teach- 
ings as     the  doctrines  of  Atterbury  and  Sacheverell.'' 

Returning  from  the  fatiguing  debate  of  the  second  of  De- 
cember on  the  state  of  the  nation.  Lord  ^^orth  received  the 
news  of  thebss  of  Burgoyue's  army.     He  was  so  agitated  that 
he  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  and  the  next  day  at  the  levee 
his  distress  was  Wsible  to  the  foreign  ministers.     Concession 
alter  defeat  M-as  humiliating ;  but  there  must  be  prompt  ac- 
tion,  or  France  would  interfere.     In  a  debate  of  the  eleventh, 
the  duke  of  Richmond,  from  the  im]iossibility  of   conquest 
argued  for  "  a  peace  on  the  terms  of  independence,  and  an  aiu' 
ance  or  federal  union."     Burke  in  the  commons  was  for  an 
agreement  with  the  Americans  at  any  rate.     "  The  ministers 
know  as  little  how  to  make  peace  as  war,"  said  Fox  ;  and  pri- 
vately among  his  friends,  oj^enly  in  the  hous,>  of  coTmn,),..  1k> 


0 


1778. 


BRITAIN  IN  WANT  OF  TROOPS. 


225 

demanded  a  settlement  witli  the  Americans  on  tJieir  own  tenns 
of  independence.     Eliot,  afterward  Lord  Minto,  and  Gibbon 
agreed  m  the  speculative  opinion  tliat,  after  the  substance  of 
power  was  lost,  the  name  of  independence  might  be  granted 
to  the  Americans.     Ou  that  basis  the  desire  of  peace  was  uni- 
versal.    It  was  the  king  who  persuaded  his  minister  to  forego 
the  opportunity  which  never  could  recur,  and  against  his  own 
conviction  without  opening  to  America  any  hope  of  pacifica- 
tion    to  adjourn  the  parhament  to  the  twentieth  of  January 
17(8      In  that  month   Lord   Amherst,  as  military  adviser, 
gave  the  opinion  that  nothing  less  than  an  additional  army  of 
forty  thousand  men  would  be  sufficient  to  carry  on  offensive 
war  in  North  America;  but  the  king  would  not  suiier  Lord 
^orth  to  flinch,  writhig  that  there  could  not  be  "  a  man  either 
bold  or  mad  enough  to  presume  to  treat  for  the  mother  coun- 
try on  a  basis  of  independence ; "  sometimes  a])pealing  to  the 
minister  s  "  personal  aifection  for  him  and  sense  of  honor  •  » 
and,  m  the  event  of  a  war  with  France,  suggesting  that  "it 
might  be  wise  to  draw  the  troops  from  the  revolted  provinces 
and  to  make  war  on  tlie  French  and  Spanish  islands."     To 
Lord   Chatham   might   be   offered    anything  but  substantial 
power,  tor  "his  name,  which  was  always  his  greatest  merit, 
would  hurt  Lord  Kockingham's  party."     And  at   court  the 
king  lavislu'd  civilities  on  young  George  Grenville  and  others 
who  were  connected  with  Lord  Chatham. 

Those  who  were  near  Lord  North  in  his  old  age  never 
heard  lam  murmur  at  his  having  become  blind ;  but  his  wife 
IS  the  witness  that  "  in  the  solitude  of  sleepless  nights  he  would 
sometimes  fall  into  very  low  spirits  and  deeply  reproach  him- 
self for  having,  at  the  earnest  desire  of  the  king,  remained  in 
administration  after  he  thought  that  peace  ought  to  have  been 
made  with  America."  "^ 

*  A  communication  from  the  daughter  of  Lord  North,  who  repeated  the  words 
01  her  mother. 


nvw 


'        .'   .11 


ll-  <l 


226      A'MERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


El'.  IV. :  ou.  XVI. 


"   I 


li;  •;  f 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

THE  ASPECT   OF   CONTINENTAL   EUROPE. 

1775-1781. 

The  TTnited  States  needed  an  ally  in  France,  but  the  minis- 
ters of  tliat  kingdom  were  unwilling  to  risk  a  war  with  Great 
Bntain  except  witli  the  certainty  of  the  acquiescence  of  conti- 
nental Europe;  the  history  of  tlie  next  years  of  tlie  United 
bta.^s  cannot  be  understood  without  a  knowledge  of  the  dis- 
position of  the  several  powers  of  Europe  toward  them 

Irance  was  siire  of  the  forbeannce  of  Austria,  for  Austria 
had  chosen  tlie  Bourbon  powers  for  its  allies. 

In  Italy,  which  V  being  broken  into  fragments  was  reft  of 
Its  s^ength  though  not  of  its  beauty,  the  uSted  Stat  ^ 
hoped  to  fiml  support  from  the  ruler  of  Florence,  of  whose 
humane  code  the  world  had  been  full  of  praise.     The  kiW 

to  that  of  Spam.  But  the  genius  of  the  Italians  has  always 
revered  he  stiniggles  of  patriotism;  Alfieri  saw  in  Am  "a 
the  prophet  of  Italian  unity;  and  Filangieri  was  prerZ 
he  won,  in  wliich,  with  the  applause  of^he  best  S  hf 
claimed  for  reason  its  rights  in  the  government  of  men.  For 
tugal  irntatcl  ti.e  United  States  by  closing  its  ports  a  Jn  t 
their  ships ;  but  was  scarcely  heard  of  again  durinytt  ^ 

The  Turkish  empire  affected  the  course  of  American  affairs 
during  the  war  and  at  its  close.  The  embroilment  of  he  west- 
ern mantime  kingdoms  seemed  to  leave  its  border  provinces 

England  who  wished  peace,  that  their  country  might  speak 
with  authority  on  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Euxine.  ^ 


:;i,     '. 


1775-1781.    THE  ASPECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EUROPE.  227 

Of  Ttiissia,  Great  Britain  with  ceaseless  importnnitv  soii^^bt 
tlie  alliance  ;  but  its  empress  put  aside  every  overture,  ancrre- 
peatedljadviscd  the  concession  of  indepen.lence  to  tlie  United 
K^tatos.  She  conlidentially  assured  the  Bourbon  family  that 
she  would  not  interfere  in  their  quarrel,  and  would  even  bo 
plei.sed  to  see  them  throw  off  the  yoke  of  England.  Her 
lieart  was  all  in  the  Orient.  She  longed  to  establish  a  Christian 
empire  on  the  Bosphorus,  and  wondered  why  Christians  of  the 
A\e,^  should  prefer  to  maintain  Mussulmans  at  Constantinople. 
Of  England,  she  venerated  the  people;  but  she  had  contempt 
for  Its  king,  and  foretold  the  failure  of  his  ministry.  On  the 
other  hand  while  she  did  not  love  the  French  nation,  she 
esteemed  Vergennes  as  a  wise  and  able  statesmtm. 

In  Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden,  the  nephew  of  Frederic  of 
I  nissia,  France  might  expect  a  friend,  for  the  revolution  of 
Inl   in   favor  of  the  royal  prerogative  had  been  aided  by 
Fro.eh  subsidies  and  the  counsels  of  Vcrgennes,  who  was  at 
the   ime  the  French  minister  at  Stockholm.     The  oldest  colo- 
mzer.  of  the  Delaware  were  Swedes,  and  a  natural  affection 
bound  their  descendants  to  the  mother  country.     The  Swedes 
as  builders  and  o^^'nel•s  of  ships,  favored  the  largest  inten.reta! 
tion  of  ';ne  maritime  rights  of  neutrals ;  and  their  king,  who 
had  dashmg  courage,  though  not  perseverance,  was  now  and 
tlu'n  the  boldest  champion  of  the  liberty  of  the  seas. 

Denmark,  the  remaining  northern  kingdom,  was  itself  a 
colonial  power,  possessing  small  West  India  islands  and  a  foot- 
hold m  the  East.     Its  king,  as  duke  of  Ilolstein,  had  a  voice 
m  the  German  diet  at  Ratisbon.     Its  people  were  of  a  noble 
race;  it  is  the  land  which,  first  of  European  states,  forbade  the 
slave-trade,  and  which,  before  the  ond  of  the  centurv,  abolished 
the  remains  of  serfdom.     But  its  half-witted  king^ad  for  his 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  Count  Bernstorf,  a  Hanoverian  by 
bir  h    who  professed  to  believe   that  a  people  can  never  be 
justihed  m  renouncing  obedience  to  its   lawful  government. 
He  would  not  suffer  the  Danish  government  to  favor,  or  even 
seem  to  favor,  the  Americans.     Danish  subjects  were  forbid- 
den to  send,  even  to  Danish  West  India  islands,  munitions  of 
war,  lest  they  should  lind  their  way  to  the  United  States.     The 
-Uaiush  and  iXorwegian  ports  were  closed  against  prizes  taken 


^1 


'  ] 


.'.  in 


Ml  (1 


.|j.ii 


im 


228 


AMEIiICA  IN  ALLIANCE  VriTII  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV.;  oil.  XVI, 


111 


is.  |i 
If. 


by  American  privateers.  Yet,  from  its  commercial  interests, 
Denmark  was  forced  to  observe  and  to  claim  the  ri-hts  of  a 
neutral.  '^ 

Of  the  two  European  republics  of  the  last  ccntin-v,  the  one 
had  established  itself  among  the  head-springs  of  the  Khine,  the 
other  at  its  mouth.  The  united  cantons  of  Switzerland,  con- 
tent  witlun  themselves,  constituted  a  republic,  which  rivalled 
in  ago  the  oldest  monarchies,  and,  by  its  good  order  and  indus- 
try,  morals  and  laws,  proved  the  compatibility  of  extensive 
confederacies  with  modern  civilization.  The  United  States 
gratefully  venerated  their  forerunner,  but  sought  from  it  no 
assistance. 

The  dcei)est  and  the  saddest  interest  hovers  over  the  repub- 
lic of  the  ^'etJierlands,  for  the  war  between  England  and  the 
United  States  i)repared  its  grave.     Of  all  the  branches  of  the 
ircrmamc   family,  that  nation,  which  for  its  abode  rescued 
from  the  choked  and  shallowed  sea  the  unstal>le  silt  and  sands 
brought  down  by  the  Ithinc,  has  endured  the  most  and  wrought 
the  most  m  favor  of  liberty  of  conscience,  commerce,  and  the 
state.     The  republic  which  it  founded  was  the  child  of  the 
reformation.     For  three  generations  the  best  interests  of  man- 
kind were  abandoned  to  its  keei)ing  ;  and,  to  uphold  the  high- 
est objects  of  spiritual  life,  its  merchants,  landholders,  mid 
traders  so  abounded  in  heroes  and  martyrs  that  they  tiivd  out 
brute    force  and   tyranny   and   death  itself,   and   from   war 
educed  life  and  hope  for  coming  ages.     Their  existence  was 
an  unceasing  struggle  with  the  ocean  which  beat  against  their 
dikes ;  with  the  rivers  which  cut  away  their  soil ;  mth  neigh- 
bors that  coveted  their  territory ;  with  England,  their  ungener- 
ous rival  m  trade.     In  proportion  to  numbers,  they  were  the 
hrst  m  agriculture  and  in  commerce,  first  in  establishing  cred 
It  by  punctuality  and  probity,  first  in  seeing  clearly  that  great 
material  interests  are  fostered  best  by  liberty.     Their  land  re- 
mained the  storehouse  of  renovating  political  ideas  for  Europe, 
and  the  asylum  of  all  who  were  persecuted  for  their  thoughts 
In  freedom  of  conscience  they  were  the  light  of  the  world. 
(  ut  of  the  heart  of  a  taciturn,  phlegmatic,  serious  people,  in- 
clined to  solitude  and  refiection,  rose  the  men  who  constructed 
the  code  of  international  law  in  the  spirit  of  justice. 


177U-1781.    THE  ASPECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EUROPE.         229 

In  1(574,  after  En^^land  for  al.ont  a  quarter  of  a  cenhiry 
ba,l  anned  by  acts  of  legislation  and  hy  u-urn  to  ruin  the  uuvT 
gafon  of  the  Netherlands,  the  two  powers  eonsolidated  peaee 
by  a  treaty  of  counnerce,  in  which  the  rights  of  neutrals  were 
guaranteed  uUanguage  the  n.ost  precise  and  clear.  Kot  only 
was  he  pnnpiple  recognised  t!ut  free  ships  nuike  free  goods 
but,bota  positively  and  negatively,  ship-tiniber  and  other  nava 
stores  were  excluded  from  the  hst  of  contrabun.l 

In  l(iS8  England  contracted  to  the  Netherlands  the  hioOi^st 
debt  that  one  nation  can  owe  to  anothei-.  Tferself  not  blow- 
ing  how  to  recover  her  liberties,  they  were  restored  l>y  men  of 
the  United  Provinces;  and  Locke  brought  back  from  his  exile 
m  tha  country  the  theory  on  government  which  had  been 
formed  by  he  Calvinists  of  the  continent,  and  which  made 
his  chief  political  work  the  text-book  of  the  friends  of  free 
mstitutions  for  a  century. 

During  the  long  wars  for  the  security  of  the  new  English 
dynasty  and  for  the  Spanish  succession,  in  all  which  th?  re- 
pnbhc  had  -ttle  mterest  of  its  own,  it  remained  the  faithful 
a  ly  of  Great  Britain.  Gibraltar  was  taken  by  ships  and  troom 
of  the  Dutch  not  less  than  by  those  of  England ;  yet  its  ap^o 
prntion  by  the  stronger  state  brouglit  them  no  corresponding 
advantage;  on  the  contrary,  their  exhausted  finances  Ld  dis 
proportionate  public  debt  crij)pled  their  power  of  self-de- 
leiice.  ^ 

For  these  mioxainjilod  and  irareqiuteil  sorvioes  the  repub- 
he  .n,ah  expect  to  And  in  England  a  wall  of  protection.  But 
dmu,,g  the  seven  years'  war,  hi  disregard  of  t,«ty  obligations, 

jear  1,,,3  the  losses  of  its  mercliants  on  these  pretences  wero 
o»ti,aateJ  at  inore  than  twelve  million  gnilJek     In   1  c'. 

en"°o,n'l     '"'r:;™''^  \''  '  «S»'^.-™  taken,  after  an 

0  Sivi       ,  '  "     '  "°"*''''  "'"  *'■«'*  ™  '■'•■'''»=«'.  George 
<.lenMle,tien  secrcfaly  of  state,  annonnced  by  letter  to  its 

Se  :id  °  i',v'  ^'""P"'"  ^"'""  ^'""^  -"'  --•'  '°- 

tiof  0    tl  rVfr'i  "«f  °*  *^"  ""I'-^rf^'i"™  fa  the  eonstitu- 
of  the  J^etherlaiids  to  divide  their  government,  and  hy 


:!;  i,  r. 


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230      AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.;  rn.xvi. 

influence  and  corrnption  to  win  the  party  of  the  stadholder  to 
her  own  uses. 

The  republic  was  in  many  ways  dear  to  tlio  Tnited  States. 
It  had  n^iven  a  resting-place  to  their  immigrant  pilgrims,  and 
dismissed  them  to  the  ^^ew  World  with  lessons  of  reli-nous 
toleration.  It  had  planted  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  ;  and  in 
?sew  York  and  New  Jersey  its  sons  still  cherished  the  lan- 
guage, church  rule,  and  customs  of  their  parent  nation.  The 
Dutch  saw  in  the  American  struggle  a  repetition  of  their  own 
history;  and  the  Americans  found  in  them  the  evidence 
that  a  small  but  resolute  state  can  triumph  over  the  utmost 
eHorts  of  the  mightiest  and  Avealthiest  empire. 

The  people  who  dwelt  between  the  Alps  and  the  northern 
seas,  between  France  and  the  Slaves,  founded  no  colonies  in 
America ;    but  they  saw  in   the  rising  people  of  the  Now 
World  many  who  traced  their  lineage  back  to  the  same  ances- 
try  with  themselves,  and  they  claimed  a  fellowship  with  the 
youthful   nation  wliich  was  stniggling  for  freedom  of  mind 
and    free   institutions.      Their  great  philosopher,  Innnanuol 
Kant,  the  contemporary  of  the  American  revolution,  the  man 
who  alone  of  Germans  can  with  Leibnitz  take  a  place  by  tho 
side  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  reformed  philosophy  as  Luther 
had  i-eformed  the  chui-ch,  on  the  princij)le  of  the  self-activity 
of  the  individual  mind.     His  method  was  that  of  the  employ- 
ment of  mind  in  its  freedom  ;  and  his  fidelity  to  human  free- 
dom has  never  been   cpiestioned   and    never   can  be.      lie 
accepted  the  world  as  it  is,  only  with  the  obligtition  that  it  is 
to  be  made  better.     His  political  philosophy  enjoins  a  con- 
stant struggle  to  lift  society  out  of  its  actual  imperfect  state, 
which  is  its  n  >   :-al  condition,  into  a  higher  and  better  one, 
by  deciding  every  question,  as  it  arises,  in  favor  of  reform 
and  progress,  and  keeping  open  the  way  for  the  elimination 
of  all  remaining  evil.     He  condemned  slavery,  and  he  branded 
the  bargaining  away  of  troops  by  one  state  to  another  with- 
out a  common  cause.     "  The  rights  of  man,"  he  said,  "  are 
dear  to  God,  are  the  apple  of  the  eye  of  God  on  earth ; " 
and  he  wished  an  hour  each  day  set  aside  for  all  children 
to  learn  them  and  take  them  to  heart.     He  was  one  of  the 
first,  perhaps  the  very  first,  of  the   German   nation   to  up^ 


1775-17ftl.    THE  ASPECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EUUOPE.  231 

hold  even  at  the  risk  of  his  fricndsiups,  the   cause  of  the 
Liutou  states. 

Lessing  contemplated  the  education  of  his  race  as  caT.ied 
forward  by  one  continued  revelation  of  truth,  the  thou.^hts 
of   Ixod,  present  in   num,  creating  harmony  and  unity,  tnd 
lea.  nig  to^v.u-d  higher  culture.     In   his   view,   the   class  of 
nobles  was  become  superfluous:  the  lights  <,!  the  world  were 
they  who   gave   the   dearest  utterance  to  the  divine  ideas. 
He  held  It  a  folly  for  men  of  a  republic  to  wish  for  a  mon- 
archy :  the  chief  of  a  commonwealth,  governing  a  free  peo- 
pie  by  tlieu-  free  choice,  has  a  halo  that  never  surrounded  a 
kmg.     Though  he  was  in  tlie  employ  of  the  duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, he  loathed   from   his   inmost   soul  the  engagement  of 
troops  in  a  foreign   war,  either  as  volunteers  or  as    sold  by 
their   princ'c       -  How  came   Othello,"   he   asks,  -  into   the 
service  oi  Venice?    Had  the  Moor  no  country?    Why  did 
he  let  out  his  arm   and  blood  to  a  foreign  state?"      /aid 
he  published  to  the  Clerman  nation  this  lesson-  "The  An-  i 
cans  are  building  in  the  New  World  the  1    Ige  of  humanity '' 

At  Weimar,  in  1770,  Herder,  die  first  who  yindicated  for 
the  songs  of  the  people  their  place  in  the  annals  of  human 
culture,  published  these  words :  -  The  boldest,  most  godlike 
thoughts  of  the  human  mind,  the  most  beautiful  and  greatest 
works,  have  been  perfected  in  republics;  not  only  in  antiquity 
but  in  medueval  and  more  modern  times,  the  best  history  the 
best  phil(.sophy  of  humanity  and  government,  is  always  repub- 
lican; and  the  republic  exerts  its  influence,  not  by  direct  in- 
tervention, but  mediately  by  its  mere  existence."  The  United 
States,  with  its  mountain  ranges,  rivers,  and  chains  of  lakes  in 
the  tem])erate  zone,  seemed  to  him  shaped  by  nature  for  a  new 
civil'zation. 

Of  the  poets  of  Germany,  the  veteran  Tvlopstoclc  beheld  in 
the  American  war  the  inspiration  of  humanity  and  the  dawn 
o±  an  approaching  great  day.  He  loved  the  terrible  siurit 
vWiich  emboldens  the  peoples  to  grow  conscious  of  their  power 
With  proud  joy  he  calls  to  mind  that,  among  the  citizens  of 
the  j^>ung  republic,  there  were  many  Germans  who  gloriously 
fulfilled  their  duty  in  the  war  of  freedom.  "  Bv  the  rivers  of 
America  light  beams  forth  to  the  nations,  and"  in  part  from 


it 


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y.  i'l  if'li 


233      AMERICA  M  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  ,v.;  on.  „,, 

Gemiam  "    So  I,o  wrote,  embalming  the  martyrdom  of  Ilcrki- 
mer  mill  his  Gcnnan  companions. 

Les.,  oiitlmsiastic,  but  not  less  consistent,  was  Goethe  Of 
plebeuui  descent,  by  birth  a  republican,  bom  like  Luther  in 
the  heart  of  Germany,  educated  like  Leibnitz  iu  the  central 
nniversity  of  Saxony,  when  seven  years  old  iie  and  1     fl     r^ 

a^  the  .ictones  of  the  German  nation.  In  early  yonth  he  like 
those  around  li„„,  was  interested  in  the  struggles  of  Coii  a- 
joined  m  the  ery  of  "Long  live  Paoli!  "  aul^ve  bis  he  rty' 
Wiy  to  the  patriot  in  exile.  Ide.«  of  popular  libert;  Id' 
m,  in  his  twenty-second  year  or  soon  after,  to  select  the 
heme  for  h.s  hrst  trugcdy  from  the  kindi-ed  epoch  in  the  hi,! 
tory  of  the  Netherlands.    But  the  interest  of  the  circ  e   n 

make  itself  free.    He  classed  the  Boston  tea-party  of  1773 
among  the  prodigions  events  which  stamped  themselves  most 

ho  V.  .shed  the  Amer.cans  success,  and  "  the  names  of  Fraukli, 

and     .u.      ^\  hen  to  aU  tlus  was  added  reform  in  France  he 
ami  the  youth  of  (iermany  promised  themselves  and  ah   r 
ellow-men  a  beautiful  and  even  a  glorious  future.     T  ,e 
bought  of  emigrating  to  America  passed  placidly  over  Is 
magmat,  ,n,  leaving  no  more  mark  than  the  shadow  of  a  flyin.: 
clond  as  it  sweeps  over  a  garden  of  tlowers  " 

The  sale  of  Ilessiau  soldiers  for  foreign'  monev  called  from 
urn  words  of  disdain;  but  his  reproof  of  the  yomig  G  riZ 
.0  ™hu, teered  to  flgbt  for  the  American  cause  and  hn 
f  on  fau,t-heaite,l„oss  drew  back,  did  not  go  beyond  asudle 
at  hecontnist  between  their  zeal  and  their  deed  lie  ^ 
e  atulated  America  that  it  was  not  f.,rced  to  bear  up  the  tra- 
l.tons  of  fendalism;  aud,  writing  „r  eonversiug,  used  n  me 

Umug  al    his  bfecomuig  in  contact  with  events  that  were 
<^I.™gmg  the  world,  he  painted  them  to  his  mind  in  the  i  I   r 

I  e  f^rt'n  ""';,   ''™''''  ^""^  ''^■'•"■"  "'«  "-vumeut  of     4 
he  foretold  with  passionless  serenity  that,  as  eertaiuly  as  the- 


^**VIS3^S?; 


iTO-1781.   THE  ASPECT  OF  OONT.NE.NTAL  EUIiOPE.         233 

American,  l,ad  tl.ro,vn  the  toa-cherts  into  the  .ea,  so  certainly 
.twonid  eo„>e  to  a  ba-ach  in  Gennaa,j  between  princrnd 
people,  .(monarchy  should  not  .-cconciie  itself  with  ClI 
nd  JUS    beiorc  the  French  revolntion  of  1830  he  pnb    M 
his  opjmon  that  the  desire  for  self-government,  which  h.  d      c 

n,g  the    attle  m  Enrope  w,tl,ont  signs  of  weariness. 

most  i  "cwir-Tl™  °'  W"'cn,bnrg,  the  part  of  Gennany 
mo,,t  mc  Ined  to  idealism ;  m  medieval  days  the  stronghold  of 
German  hbert  >- ;  renowned  for  its  mnnerous  free  cities  the  vide 
distribution  of  land  among  small  freeholds,  the  t  tal     se"  e 

Old  nobihty.    Equally  in  his  ho„«  of  reflection  and  in  his 

poet  of  the  Gennan  nation  invigorated  by  the  ideas  of  Kant 

I  he  victoiy  winch  his  countrymen  won  against  the  Vat Cn 

and  agamst  error  for  the  freedom  of  reason  was,  as  he  w™tT 

a  victory  for  ad  nations  and  for  endless  time.    Tie  t  ™S 

eac^,.  to  clasp  the  millions  of  his  fcllow-nicn  in  his  «"bncc 

o  gi™  a  salntat  on  to  the  whole  world ;  and,  glowing    iS 

diguation  at  prnices  who  met  the  expenses  of  proS-^acy    v 

cihng  their  subjects  to  war  against  the  rights  of  mank  nd  a 

few  yeai-s  later  he  brought  their  crime  upon  the  sta<-e 

Under  the  German  kii.glings,  the  sense  of  the  nation  could 

in  An  c„o.r    Translations  of  British  pamphlets  on  the  war 

is.  elated  by  N.cbnhr  that  the  political  ideas  which  in  his 
o,„h  most  s,vayed  the  mind  of  Gennany  g.vw  ont  of  its  fet 
»w-feelu.g  with  the  United  States  in  tl.eh-  st.ni.-,de  f o  ■  h . 

Wj.ilc  tlie  trnost  and  best  representatives  of  German  intel- 

ta  :?t^^r"  '  ^^''"'""^  =^^  *^^^  ^'"^^^^^^  ^'  ^  -public  ti; 

best  of  the  (.crman  pnnees  approved  tlieir  rising  in  arms  ao-ninst 
Liiest  of  Saxony,  cnltivate<l  by  travel  in  Ilollancl,  En-land 

in  1    n  \  "  "'''I  ^'''''''-     ^'y  f^M'alityand  simplicity 

m  Ins  court,  bo  restored  tbc  disordered  ilnan<;.s  of  the  ducb/ 


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23i      AMERICA  IX  ALLLiXGE  WITH  FliAXCE.    eimv.;  cu.xvi. 

and  provided  fur  great  pul,Iic  works  and  for  science.     TLouo-Ii 
the  king  of  England  was  liis  near  relation,  lie  put  aside  the 
offers  of  enormous  subsidies  for  troops  to  be  enioloyed  in 
America.     When,  ten  years  later,  he  was  ready  to  risk  his  life 
and  independence  in  the  defence  of  the  nnitj  and  the  liberties 
of  Germany,  these  are  the  words  in  which  he  cheered  on  his 
dearest  friend  to  aid  in  curbing  the  ambition  of  Austria  •  "All 
hope  for  our  freedom  and  the  preservation  of  the  constitution 
IS  not  lost.     Pught  and  erpiity  are  on  our  side  ;  and  the  wise 
1  rovidence,  according  to  my  idea  of  it,  cannot  approve,  cannot 
support,  pei-jury  and  the  suppression  of  all  rights  of  citizens 
and  of  states.     Of  this  pi-ineij)le  the  example  of  America  is 
the  eloquent  proof.     England  met  with  her  deserts.     It  was 
necessary  that  her  pride  should  be  bowed,  and  tliat  oppressed 
innocence  should  carry  off  the  victory.     Time  cannot  outlaw 
the  lights  of  mankind." 

The  friend  to  whom  these  words  were  addressed  was  the 
brave,  warm-hearted  Charles  Angustus  of  oaxe-A7eimar,  who 
m  17  <f],  bemg  then  of  only  nineteen  years,  refused  a  recuiest 
for  leave  to  open  recruiting  offices  at  Ilmenau  and  Jena  for 
the  English  service,  though  he  consented  to  the  delivery  of 
vagabonds  and  convicts.     When,  in  the  last  days  of  x\ovein- 
ber  1777,  the  prince  of  Schaumburg-Lippe,  as  the  go-betueen 
of  the  British  ministry,  made  unlimited  oilers  for  some  of  his 
battalions,  the  patriot  prince  called  his  ministers  to  a  confer- 
ence, and,  supported  by  the  unanimous  advice  of  those  present, 
on  the  third  of  December  he  answered  :  "  There  are,  in  o-eu! 
eral,  many  weighty  reasons  why  I  cannot  yield  my  consent  to 
deliver  trooi)s  into  foreign  service  and  pay ; "  and  it  is  minuted 
on  the  draft  tliat  "  Serenissimus  himself  took  charge  of  posting 
the  letter."  ^         ° 

The  signature  of  Goethe,  tlie  youngest  minister  of  Weimar 
IS  wanting  to  the  draft,  for  he  was  absent  on  a  winter  trip 
to  the  Ilartz  Mountains ;  but  that  his  heart  was  with  his 
coUeaguep  a])])ears  from  his  writing  simultaneously  from  Gos- 
lar:  "IIow  am  I  again  brought  to  love  that  class  of  men 
which  is  called  the  lower  class,  but  whic^h  assuredly  for  God 
is  the  highest !  In  them  moderation,  contentnu-nt,  straightfor- 
wardness,  patience,  endurance,  all  the  virtues,  meet  together." 


i!  H  { 


1775-1781.    THE  ASrECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EUROPE.  235 

Did  the  future  bring  honor  to  the  houses  of  the  princes 
vvho  refused  to  iight  against  America?  or  to  those  who  rold 
their  subjects  to  destroy  the   freedom  of  the  New  World  ^ 
Every  dynasty  which  furnished  troops  to  England  has  ceased 
to  reign   except  one,  which  has  now  for  its  sole  representative 
an  aged  and  childless   man.     On   the  other  hand,  the  three 
baxon  families  remain;  and  in  their  states  local  self-govern 
nient  has  continually  increased,  and  the  wisdom  and  the  wiU 
of^the  mhabitants  have  been  consulted  and  respected.   In  Saxe- 
W  eimar  the  collision  between  monarchy  and  popular   free- 
dom, predicted  for  Germany  by  Goethe,  was  avoided  by  the 
wisdom  of  its  administration.  "^ 

Nor  is  tins  dilferent  fate  of  the  princes  to  be  attributed  to 
accident.  Ihe  same  infidelity  to  duty,  which  induced  some 
of  them  to  support  their  vices  by  tra.lic  in  their  subjects, 
colored  their  career,  and  brought  them  in  conflict  Mdth  the 
laws  of  the  eternal  Providence. 

t^J^i-   ^'''T  7^'"'  '''-'*  *'  '^'''P^'  "^  ^"^^*^'^'  8-«^-^^'^ed  at 
hat  tune   tlie   largest  number  of  men  having  the  aerman 

for  their  mother  tongue,  was  Frederic  of  Prussia,  then  the 
only  king  m  Germany.     He  was  a  prince  trained  alike  in  the 
arts  of  war  and  administration,  in  philosophy  and  letters.     It 
should  lie  incredible,  and  yet  it  is  true  that,  at  the  mom.    ,  of 
the  alliance  of  the   Catholic  powers  against  Protestantism, 
England,  under  the  second  George  and  a  frivolous  minister 
was  attempting  by  large  subsidies  to  set  tlio  force  of  Russia 
against  the  most  considerable  Protestant  power  in  Germanv 
In  the  attempt,  England  shot  so  wiklly  from  its  sphere  that 
iSewcasle  was  forced  to  bend  to  W^iam  Pitt;   and  tlien 
Lno-:,,nd  and  I  russui,  and  the  embryon  United  States-Pitt, 
Frederic  and  AV  ashington-worked  together  for  human  free- 
dom^   The  seven  years'  war  extended  the  English  colonies  to 
the  Mississippi  and  gave  Canada  ..  England.    "  We  conquered 
America  m  Germany,"  said  the  older  Pitt,  ascribing  to  Fred- 
eric a  s  lare  m  the  extension  oi  Uie  Germanic  race  in  the  otiier 
iicnusphere  ;  and  Frederic,  in  liis  histories,  treats  the  English 
niovenient  m  AiiKu-ica  and  his  own  struggles  m  Europe  all  as 
one,  so  long  as  Pitt  was  at  the  helm. 

^"  "^vof  vlilin''^^"^^  ^"^"^"^^  ^'^^^^  ^een  shaped  if  Pitt's  min- 


I  !■■        ''■ 


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III 


230      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  AVITII  FiJANCE.    ep.  iv. ;  en.  xvr. 

istry  hiul  contimiecl,  and  the  bonds  between  England  and 
Prnssia  liad  Ijcen  riveted  by  a  connnon  peace  ?  But  liere,  as 
everywhere,  it  is  useless  to  ask  what  would  have  happened  if 
the  eternal  Providence  had  for  the  moment  suspended  its 
nile.  The  Americans  were  at  variance  with  the  same  class  of 
British  ministers  which  had  wronged  Frederic  in  1702.  With 
which  branch  of  the  Teutonic  fa^niily  would  be  the  sympathy 
of  Geniiany  ?     Where  stood  its  one  incomparal)le  king  'i 

He  was  old  and  broken ;  his  friends  had  fallen  wav  him  in 
battle.     The  tliought  of  his  campaigns  gave  him  no  pleasure, 
their  marvellously  ti-inmjihant  result  no  pride :  he  looked  back 
to  tliem  with  awe,  and  even  with  horror ;  like  one  who  has  sailed 
through  a  relentless  whirlwind  in  mid-ocean,  and  been  but  just 
saved  from  foundering.     No  one  of  the  powers  of  Euroi)e  was 
liem-tily  his   ally.      Eussia  will  soon  leave  him   for  Austria. 
His  great  deeds  become  to  him  so  many  anxieties  ;  his  system 
meets  with  persistent  and  deadly  enmity.     He  seeks  rest ;  and 
strong  and  unavoid:.l)le  antagonisms  allow  his  wasted  strength 
no  reposo.     Ho  is  childless  and  alone;  his  nephew,  who  ^11 
be  his  successor,  neglects  him,  and  follows  other  counsels;  his 
own  brother  hopes  and  prays  to  heaven  that  tlie  king's  days 
may  not  be   prolonged.      Worn  by  unparalleled   labor  and 
years,  he  strikes  against  obstacles  on  all  sides  as  he  seeks  to 
give  a  sure  life  to  his  kingdom;  and  prudence  teaches  him 
that  he  nmst  still  dare  aiid  suffer  and  go  on.     He  must  main- 
tain Protestantism  and  (lerman  liberty  against  Austria,  which 
uses  the  imperial  crown  only  for  its  advantage  as  a  forehm 
power,  and  relentlessly  aims  at  the  destruction ^of  his  realm." 

The  most  perfect  government  he  held  to  be  that  of  a  well- 
administered  monarchy.     "But  then,"  he  added,  «  kingdoms 
are  subjected  to  the  caprice  of  a  single  man  whose  successors 
wdl  have  no  common  character.     A  g(wd-for-nothiiig  prince 
succeeds  an   ambitious  one ;  then  follows  a  devotee ;  then  a 
warrior;  then  a  scholar;  then,  it  may  be,  a  voluptuary;  and 
the  genius  of  the  nation,  diverted  by  the  varietv  of  objects 
assumes  no  lixed  character-.     Put  re])ublics  fulfil  more  prompt- 
ly the  design  of  their  institution,  and  hold  out  better;  for  good 
Icmgs  die,  l)ut  ^v^•so  laws  are  innnortal.     Tluu-c  is  unity  in  the 
end  wliich  republics  i)ropo8e,  and  in  tlie  means  wliich  tliey  em- 


i 


1775-1781.    TOE   ASPECT  OF  CONTINEXTAL  EUROPE.  237 

ploy ;  and  they  therefore  ahnost  never  miss  tlieir  aim."     The 
republic  whicli  arose  in  America  encountered  no  unfavorable 
prejudice  in  his  mind.     With  the  France  whicli  protected  the 
Umted  btates  he   had  a  common  feeling.      Liberal   Enfflisli 
statesmen  eonnnanded  his  good-will ;  but  he  detested  the  poh- 
cy  of  Lute  and  of  North  :  so  that  for  him  and  for  America 
thei-e  were  m  England  the  same  friends  and  the  same  enemies 
^      In  November  1774  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Brit^ 
ish  colonies  would  rather  be  buried  under  the  ruins  of  their  set- 
tlements than  submit  to  the  yoke  of  the  mother  country     He 
■.vas  astonished  at  the  apathy  and  gloomy  silence  of  the  British 
nation  on  undertaking  a  war  alike  absurd  and  fraught  with 
hazard     "The  treatment  of  the  colonies,"  he  wrote  in  Septem- 
ber 17  io     appears  to  me  to  be  the  first  step  toward  despotism." 
In  October  of  the  same  year  the  British  minister  at  Berlin 
reportccl :  "His  ill  state  of  health  threatens  him  with  a  speedy 
dissolution. '     What  thoughts  filled  his  mind  while  others  be- 
lieved him  dying,  we  kn,.w  from  himself:  "During  mv  ill 
ness,m  which  I  have  passed  many  moments  doing  nothin' ■ 
these  are  the  ideas  that  occupied  n>y  mind :  It  semns  to  ml 
very  hard  to  proclaim  as  rebels  free  subjects  who  only  defend 
their  prnileges  against  the  despotism  of  a  ministry  "     This 
he  said  at  the  proclamation  of  George  III.,  which  had  de- 
nounced the  American  insurgents  as  traitors.     "The  more  I 
reflect  on  the  measures  of  the  British  government,  the  more 
tliey  appear  to  me  arbitrary  and  despotic.     Tlie  British  con^ti 
tution  Itself  seems  to  authorize  resistance.     That  the  court  has 
provoked  Its  colonies  to  withstand  its  measures,  nobody  can 
doubt.     It  invents  new  taxes  ;  it  wishes  by  its  own  authority 
to  impose  them  on   its  colonies  in  manifest  bivaeh  of  their 
privileges  :  the  colonies  do  not  refuse  tlieir  former  taxes,  and 
deuiand  only  with  regard  to  new  ones  to  be  placed  on  the  same 
footing  with  Lngland;  but  the  government  will  not  accord  to 
them  the  right  to  tax  themselves.     This  is  the  whole  history 
of  tJiese  disturbances."  "^ 

"If  I  luid  a  voice  in  the  British  cabinet,  I  should  take 
advantage  of  the  good  disposition  of  the  colonies  to  reconcile 
mysef  with  them."  "In  order  to  interest  the  nation  in  this 
war,  the  British  court  will  oiler  conditions  of  reconciliation ; 


1   « 

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238       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP,  IV.  :  OIT.  XVI. 


but  it  will  make  tliem  so  burdensome  that  tlio  colonics  will 
never  be  able  to  accept  tliem."  "  The  issue  of  tbis  contest 
cannot  fail  to  make  an  epoch  in  British  annals."  "The  f,n'cat 
question  is  always  whether  the  colonies  will  not  find  means  to 
separate  entirely  from  the  mother  country  and  form  a  free 
republic.  The  examples  of  the  Netherlands  and  of  Switzer- 
land make  me  at  least  presume  that  this  is  not  inqjossible. 
Nearly  all  Euroi)o  takes  the  pai-t  of  the;  colonies  and  defends 
their  cause,  while  that  of  tlie  court  finds  neither  favor  nor  aid." 

No  prince  could  be  farther  than  Frederic  from  romantic 
attempts  to  rescue  from  oppression  foreign  colonies  that  were 
beyond  his  reach.  In  a  careful  search  through  his  cabinet 
papers  for  several  years,  I  have  found  no  lett(T  or  part  of  a 
letter  in  which  he  allowed  the  interest  of  his  kingdom  to  suffer 
from  personal  picpie  or  dynastic  influences.  Tlis  cai'es  are  for 
the  country  which  he  rather  serves  than  rules.  He  sees  and 
exactly  measures  its  weakness  as  m'cII  as  its  strength,  and 
gathers  every  one  of  its  disconnected  parts  under  his  wings. 

When,  in  May  177G,  a  plan  for  a  direct  commerce  with 
America  was  suggested,  Fredc^ric  answered:  "The  plan  ap- 
pears to  me  very  problematical;  without  a  fleet,  bow  could  I 
cause  such  a  eonnnerce  to  be  respected  ?  " 

In  Se])tcmber  he  received  from  his  minister  in  London  a 
French  version  of  the  American  declaration  of  independence ; 
and,  as  the  British  had  not  had  decisive  success  in  arms,  it  Avas 
to  him  a  clear  indication  that  the  colonies  could  not  be  subju- 
gated. He  had  heard  of  the  death-bed  renuu-k  of  nume,  that 
the  success  of  the  com-t  would  bring  to  England  the  loss  of  her 
liberties. 

With  a  connncrcial  agent,  sent  in  the  following  November 
by  Silas  Deane,  ho  declined  to  treat  for  a  direct  eonnnerce  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Prussia ;  but  he  consented  to  an 
exchange  of  their  connnodities  through  the  ports  of  Ih-ittany. 

That  France  and  Spain  would  be  drawn  into  the  war,  ho 
from  the  first  foretold  ;  yet  for  France  he  said:  "In  the  ruin- 
ous condition  of  its  finances,  a  war  will  certainly  bring  bank- 
mptcy  in  its  train." 

Meantime,  the  liberties  of  Germany  were  endangered ;  and 
the  political  (question  of  the  day  assumed  the  largest  proper- 


1775-1781.    THE  ASPECT  OF  CONTIXENT^X  EUROPE.         239 

tions  by  .  grouu,lle.s,s  claim  on  the  part  of  Joseph  of  Aiistri. 
to  a  contingent  right  of  inheritance  to  a  large  pa  t  of  IW  na 

months  of  Inb,  began  to  draw  near  to  France,  M-Iiich  was  one 
of  the  gnarantees  ,  ,f  the  peace  of  Westphalia. 

«.v    «  ^r' l7  r ' '  ^'  ^''l  '"'*"''*'^  ''^^  ^^^^«ter  at  Versailles  to 
Hay:  "Should  1  ranee  begin  war,  she  may  be  sure  that  I  will 

n  nr""r  ?'  -  the  world  to  preserve  peace"  on  the  cont  ! 

ont.  I  gnarantce  to  yon  reciprocity  on  the  part  of  his  most 
Chnstian  majesty,"  was  the  answer  of  Manrepas. 

_  On  the  fcM.rteenth  of  February  1777,  the  American  com- 
m,ssK>ners  at  Pans  transmitted  to  Frederic  a  copy  of  the  dc^- 
laranm  of  mdependence  and  of  the  articles  of  Amencan 
ji  ede,-at.on  with  the  formal  expression  of  the  earnest  desire 
a  ml^n    'f^^^«^^*-"  hisfri.ndship,and  to  estabhsh 

countnes.     J  ,e  great  kmg  received  from  Franklin,  with  un- 
nnngled  sat.stacfon,  the  manifesto  of  the  republic  and  its  first 
essay  a   a  constitution.     The  victories  of  Washington  at  Tren- 
ton  and  Princeton  proved  to  him  that  the  colonies  were  be- 
coine  a  nafcm.     He  supported  the  rights  of  neutrals  in  their 
fnllest  ex  ent;  but,  as  to  a  direct  commerce,  he  could  only  an- 
swer as  before:  '^   am  without  a  nar>^ ;  having  no  armTd 
Bh.ps  to  protect  trade,  the  direct  commerce  c.^ld  be  conducted 
only  under  the  Hag  of  the  Netherlands,  and  England  respects 
«.it  flag  no  longer.     St.  Eustatius  is  watched  bytit  least  ninety 
rnghsh  cnusers.     Under  more  favorable  circumstances,  our 
linens  of  Silesia,  our  woollens  and  other  manufactures,  mi<.ht 
^nd  a  new  market/'     But,  while  he  postponed  negotiations, 
It,  Avho  was  accustomed  to  utter  his  connnands  tersely  and  not 
to  i-epeat  his  M'ords,  charged  his  minister  thrice  over  in  the 
^a.ne  rescript  to  say  and  do  nothing  that  could  offend  or  wound 
he  Amencan  people.     In  the  ren.aining  years  of  the  war  some 
one  ot  the  American  agents  would  ever  and  anon  renew  the 
ame  propos.t.on ;  but  he  always  in  gentle  words  turned  aside 
the  ie<pjes   which  interfered  with  his  nearer  duty  to  Prussia. 
Agamst  the  advice  of  Franklin  and  a  seasonable  hint  from 

vLr''"'l  TT  ^'^'^'"^-^^-^'g-  tl.at  the  visit  would  be 
premature,  Arthur  Lee  went  by  way  of  Vienna  to  Berlin.     At 


rmn 


><     !  i 


M  li 


is  I 


II !  ^i 


'  Ml 


'.  ■ 


240       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  en.  XVI. 


ill 


< '  I 


Vienna  bo  was  kept  aloof  by  Kaiiiiitz,  .v^.ially  and  from  tlio 
foreign  office.  In  Berlin  be,  as  a  traveller,  was  assured  of 
])rotcetion.  Frederic,  tbongli  lu>  refused  to  see  bin:,  ])roinised 
bis  influence  to  ])revent  new  treaties  by  England  for  German 
troops,  and  to  troops  destined  for  America  forbade  tbe  transit 
tlirougb  any  part  of  bis  dominions. 

Elliott,  tben  Eritisb  minister  in  Berlin,  for  a  tbou.'and  guin- 
eas induced  a  burglar  to  steal  tbe  papers  of  Artbnr  Lee,  but, 
on  tbe  complaint  of  Artbur  Lee  to  tbo  police,  pent  tbem  back 
after  reading  tbem,  and  spirited  tbe  tbiuf  out  of  tbe  kingdom. 
Against  tbe  rules  of  tbe  court,  be  buri-ied  to  Potsdam :  tbe  king 
refused  to  see  bim ;  and  a  cabinet  order,  in  bis  own  bandwrit- 
ing,  still  preserves  Ids  judgment  upon  Elliott :  "  It  is  a  case 
of  public  stealing,  and  be  sliould  l)e  forbidden  tbe  court ;  but 
I  will  not  pusb  matters  witb  rigor."  And  to  bis  minister  in 
London  be  wrote :  «  Ob,  tbe  wortby  pui)il  of  Bute !  In  trutb, 
tbe  English  ongbt  to  blusb  for  sbame  at  sending  such  minis- 
ters to  foreign  courts." 

Tbe  people  of  England  cberisbed  tbe  fame  of  tbe  Prussian 
king  as  in  some  measure  tbeir  own,  and  unanimously  desired 
tbe  renewnl  of  bis  alliance.  Tbe  ministry  sougbt  to  open  tbe 
way  for  it  tbrougb  bis  envoy  in  London.  Frederic  rei)lied : 
"  No  man  is  further  removed  tban  myself  from  having  connec- 
tions witb  England."  " '  A  scalded  eat  fears  cold  water,'  says 
tbe  proverb.  If  that  crown  would  give  me  all  the  millions 
possible,  I  would  not  furnish  it  two  small  tiles  of  my  troops 
to  serve  against  the  colonies." 

"  Never  in  past  ages,"  be  continued,  some  weeks  later,  "  has 
the  situation  of  England  been  so  critical.  Her  ministry  is 
without  men  of  talent."  "A  glance  at  tbe  situation  shows 
that,  if  she  continues  to  employ  the  same  generals,  four  cam- 
paigns will  hardly  be  enough  to  sid)jugate  her  colonies." 
"All  good  judges  agree  with  me  that,  if  the  colonies  remain 
united,  the  mother  country  will  never  subjugate  them." 

"  My  marine  is  nothing  but  a  mercantile  marine,  of  which 
I  know  the  limits  too  well  to  go  beyond  tbem."  "  If  the  colo- 
nies shall  sustain  their  inde])endence,  a  direct  commerce  witb 
them  will  follow,  of  course." 

Having  taken  his  position  toward  England,  be  proceeded 


^^~~.. 


IV. ;  on.  XVI. 


J775-1781.    THE  ASrECT  OF  CONTINENTAL  EUROPE.         2il 

to  gain  the  aid  of  France  as  well  as  of  Eussia  against  tlic  an- 
nexation  of  Bavaria  to  the  Austrian  dominions ;  and  in  the 
breast  of  the  aged  Maurepas,  whose  experience  in  olfice  pre- 
ceded the  seven  years'  war,  there  renuuned  enough  of  the  ear- 
lier Irench  traditions  to  render  him  jealous  of  such  an  aggran- 
drze,nent  of  the  old  rival  of  his  country.    The  vital  importance 
of  the  question  waa  understood  at  Potsdam  and  at  Vienna 
Xaunitz,  who  made  it  the  cardinal  point  of  Austrian  policy  to 
overthrow  the  kingdom  of  Prussia,  looked  upon  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Lavana  as  the  harbinger  of  success.     When  Joseph  re- 
paired to  I  aris  to  win  France  for  his  design  tlu-ough  the  influ- 
ence of  his  sister,  Marie  Antoinette,  the  Prussian  envoy  was 
commanded  to  be  watchful,  but  to  be  silent.     Ko  sooner  had 
the  emperor  retired  than  Frederic,  knouing  that  AEaurepas had 
resisted  the  influence  of  the  queen,  renewed  his  efforts;  and, 
hrough  a  conhdential  French  agent  sent  to  him  under  the  pre^ 
text  of  attenduig  the  midsummer  military  reviews  at  Magde- 
burg, the  Uvo  kingdoms  adjusted  their  foreign  policy,  of  which 
the  central  points  lay  in  the  United  States  and  in  Gemiany. 

1  ranee.  If  she  would  venture  on  war  with  England,  needed 
security  and  encouragement  from  Frederic  on  thc^side  of  Ger- 
many, and  h.s  aid  to  stop  the  sale  of  German  troops.  He  met 
the  overture  With  joy,  and  near  the  end  of  July  wrote  with  his 
own  haiKl :  "  ^  o ;  certainly  we  have  no  jealoi  Jv  of  the  aggran- 
dizement  of  I  ranee:  we  even  put  up  prayers  fbr  her  profperi- 

f ' u'rtt         ^""^''  "'"  ""^  ^'^""^1  "^'^"'  ^^^^'«^1  or  Ilalber- 
A         .      i"^'  """  f''"'"  ^'  Maurepas,"  so  he  continued  in 
August  and  heptember,  "  that  1  have  no  connection  whatever 
with  England   nor  do  I  grudge  to  France  any  advantages  she 
nay  gam  by  the  war  with  the  colonies."     "  Her  flrst  fnterest 
rcquu-es  the  enfeeblement  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  way  to 
this  IS  to  make  it  lose  its  colonies  in  America.     The  present 
opportunity  is  more  favorable  than  ever  before  existed,  and 
more   favorable  than  is   likely  to  recur  in  three   centui'ies." 
riie  independence  of  the  colonies  will  be  worth  to  France  all 
wliich  the  war  will  cost." 

To  preserve  his  own  kingdom  and  the  liberties  of  Germany, 
ho  pressed  upon  the  French  council  an  alliance  of  France,  Prus! 
Bia,  and  Russia.     ^'  Italy  and  Bavaria,"  he  said,  -  would  follow, 


liikf'' 


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242       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  on.  xvi. 

^d  no  alliance  would  bo  left  to  Austria  except  tluat  with  En.- 
iand  If  ,t  does  not  take  place,  troubles  are  at  l.ar.d  to  be  de- 
cided only  by  tbe  sword."  In  Lis  iniirm  old  a^^e,  ho  felt  hZt. 
powers  utterly  une.p.al  to  the  renewal  of  such  a  contlict;  Z^ 
he  saw  no  hope  for  hnnself,  as  Idng  of  Pnissia,  to  rescue  Eavaria 
and  with  It  Germany  from  absorption  by  Austria,  except  in  the 
good-will  of  France  and  Russia.  l^^nma 

While  Frederic  was  encouraging  France  to  strike  a  decisive 
blow  m  favor  of  the  United  States,  their  cause  found  an  effi! 
c  cut  advocate  m  Marie  Antoinette.     She  placed  in  the  hands 
of  licr  husband  a  memoir  which  had  been  prepared  by  Co  n 
de  Maillebois  and  Count  d'Estaing,  and  which  censured    he 
timid  policy  of  hi.  ministers.     The  states  of  Europe  i   wa! 
said,  would  judge  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  by  th    Zmni  S 
^yhIch   hat  prince  will  know  how  to  avail  hinlself  of  the  occa- 
sion to  lower  tlie  pride  and  presumption  of  a  rival  power.    The 
French   council,   nevertheless,   put  off  the   day  of  decision 
Even  so  late  as  the  twenty-third  of  November  1^77  etTone 
o    them,  except  the  minister  of  the  marine  and  V^^^ 
Maurepas  above  all,  desired  to  avoid  a  conilict.     Frederic  aU 

pTriritT'"""/^  -'--^-Mbrough  his  ministe;  at 
rails    that  France  had  now  an  opportunity  which  must  be 

taTtt  r  ™''T-'  ^i  ^''''''''  ''^''  ^--  -  q-^-  Ob- 
tan  the  troops  which  she  needed;  that  Denmark  would  be 

himself  by  refusing  passage  through  any  part  of  his  domin- 
ions to  the  recniits  levied  in  Germany,  ha,l  given  pubh  . 
dence  of  his  sympathy  with  the  Americans^  that  France  if 

she  should  go  to  war  with  England  miidit  }>r>  fr.o  i^l 

T,^>,  •        Ti  ,  -"p,i.iuu,  juigiit  De  tree  irom  apiDre- 

tension  alike  on  th.  side  of  Puissia  and  of  Prussia 

So  M-hen  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Purgovne's  army 
was  received  at  Paris  and  every  face,  even  that  o^f  the  Fi-enI 
bng,  showed  signs  of  joy,  Maurepas  prepared  to  yield  •  but 
fo"lt  ^nr'T'"^^^  Wsowelltlfe  rehle 
judgment  on  the  probable  issues  of  a  war.  Frederic  renew- 
ing assurances  of  his  own  good-will  and  the  non-inSfer  nl^ 
of  Russia  replied  :  "  The  chances  ai-e  one  hundred  to  one  tha^ 
the  colonies  will  sustain  their  independence  " 


IV. ;  on.  XVI. 


nrS-lW..    T„E  ASPECT  OF  CONTINEVTAL  V^VUOVK.  243 

a...MIia,.ie.."     "  England  r,,:^,",^,^'.,'^-"  '»-.><  '- 

n  going  ,0  war  «U1,  i,.,  co.onfc,  ; C'inl:';™';;  ">•*': 
being  aWo  to  s.ilnn^„te  tlimn  ,,'"""""'"'"""<"•"' 
men"  nert,  tla  set  toL  it    ,1  ff      T''"  "*  '"^  "'""■'■•""' 

that  its  ill  meee^s  i,  dno  to  tlie  hL  "^'f '•■"'> »  "V'mon, 

paeitj-  of  it«  n.in,stry  E  0,  „  f^T  C  ."^  "?'  """.  '"="■ 
ministry,  the  to*.  fvonU,  «i„  'it:"  t  ,  J:,:,:  .^f  •"  f 
primal  source  of  the  doonv  n-f  P,n+  •    •    .  V    ""^"^^  •  J^'io 

«.tn,.c  of  ii.  ,u.e  e,  t  Bove«  ^^^^^  '°  '"  ?""«',"  ''"  "^  "- 
tl.e  inincipk.  of  Britilw  ™„"       ^  ,"rT'f  'i'f '■""  '"■'"" 

the  torios  that  the  present  war  «-itI,  ?l     ^  rn"<''l'k>'  ^if 

i.t™l     TT,       •  ,    '  ""^  " '''' "'0  cc'onies  s  to  be  attril). 

p4':-;rret-:d':^-;t'°x::^ 

receive  their  cnii.or.  fnr  +7    "^"^.P^"*  ^^  ^mbdcn  conld  not 
«;..n,fro,p;tttw:tt^^^^^^^^^^ 

^.^.  .0  ii  !^i^j::,r^L:^:^tJ:i:^  ™; 

w  Iht  ,•"  T^-'^"^""'-  ""kpondinco,  when  France 


ft  in 


■f  Jir 


aa     AMKIMOA  JN  ALLIANCK  WITH  FIJANCE. 


>'i'.  IV. ;  c'li.  xva 


ciiAPTKk  xvrr. 

FRAN(!R   AND   TIIK    INITllI)   STATKS. 

Dkckmuku  1777-Ai'un,  177S. 

T.iK  account  of  P.nr-ovne's  snnvndcr,  wliicli  was  l.rouL^it 
to   I'l-iMuv  by  a  suin..ailiMg  sl.i,,  fnun    HosfoM,  tli.vw  Tur-ot 
""•I  nil  r.ns  11,(0  transports  of  joy.     iN„„c  clonl)tc(l  the  ability 
<>1  the  slates  to  maintain  their  indei.(.,ulence.     On  the  twelftii 
of  Deeeniher  their  eonnnissioners  had  an   interview  with  Vcr- 
PMHU^^     "  Nothino-,"  said  he,  '^  has  strnck  mv  so  nmeh  ,us  Gen- 
eral   >\ashn.-t,.n's   attackinn.  and    o.ivi„o.    hatUe   to   Geneml 
Howe's  army.     To  hrin-  troops  raised  within  the  year  to  this 
promises  ewrytliinir.    Tlu>  court  of  France,  In  the  treaty  which 
IS  t.)  he  enter..!  into,  inlen.l  (o  take  no  advanta-e  of  your  pres- 
ent s.tnation.     Once  made,  it  should  he  (h.rahle ;  and  there- 
lore  It  should  contain  no  condition  of  whicli  the  Americans 
may  allerward  repent,  hut  su<-h  only  as  will  hist  as  Ion-  as 
Iniman   mstitutions  shall  endure,  so   that  nu.tual  an.ity  may 
subsist  lore^er.     Knterln.i,.  into  a  treaty  will  bc>  an  avowal  of 
your  nuK-i,endence.     Spain  nn.st  be  consulted,  and  Spain  will 
not  be  sat.shed  with  an  undetennined  boundarv  on  (he  west 
.Sonu.  otthe  states  are  supposed  to  run  to  tl'.e  South  Sea! 
whu'h  nii-ht  ,nu>rtere  with  her  claim  t..  (^dif,)rnia  "     It  wis 
answered  thai  the  last  treaty  of  peace  adopted  the  .Alississip,',! 
as  a  I'onnda.^ .     .-And  what  share  do  you  intend  to  ^ive  ni  in 
tlK.  hshenes^^     asked  ^V,^emIes ;  for  in  the  original  draft  of 
a  trc-aty  the  1  nitcd  States  had  proposed  to  take  to  themselves 
ape  l.reton  and  the  wliole  of  the  island  of  iXewfoundhmd. 
Kvplanat.ons  were  n.ade  by  tlie  An.eriean  eonnnissioners  that 
then-  hiter  instructions  removed  all  chances  of  disagreement  on 
tiiat  subject. 


1777-^1778. 


FKANCE  AND  TFIK   UNITED  STATKS. 


245 

The  retun.  of  the  (.ouri.T  t<,  Spain  wus  not  waited  for. 
On  the  Heventeenth,  (Jenml,  one  of  the  .cretarieH  of   Ver- 
gennen  intonne.1  Fnu.Uin  an<l  Deane  that  the  kin^.  in  eouneil 
'^^'  ;'^'f"nuu.e.l  not  only  to  acknowled^re  tlie  United  St.fes 
l>.<t  to  support  t..eir  cause ;  and  in  case  En^^Iand  should  deoiarj 
w;ir  an:a.nstl-ra,K:    on  account  of  this  n.e<.^nition,  he  would 
not  msist  that  ti.e  Americans  should  not   n.ake    a   separate 
JHJuce  hut  only  that  they  sh<.uld  n.aintain  their  independence 
1  .e  An.encau  conunissioners  answered:  "  VV^e  perceive  and 
a.hmre  Ihe  king's  magnanimity  and  wisdom.     Jle  will  find  us 
•=^".^"    a;..l  hnn  allies.     We  wish  witli  his  n.ajesty  that  the 
».nity  he.ween  the  two  nations  may  last  forever ; »  and  both 
pari u-s  anreed  that  good  relations  could  continue  ]..>tween  a 
"'«'";ii'''hy  and  a  republic. 

The  French  king  pronn'sed,  in  January  17TH,  throe  millions 
ot  hvres;  as  much  more,  it  was  said,  would  be  remitted  by 
^i'am  from  Havana.  Hut  the  Spanish  government,  wliile  it 
wasdevoted  to  the  union  between  the  crowns  of  France  and 
^;pam,  adliered  as  yet  to  the  poli(,y  of  avoiding  a  rupture  with 
hngla.ul.  Jo  Count  Montmorin,  then  French  ambassador  at 
Madrid  I lor.da  Hlanea  said,  with  warmth:  "Your  court  is 
disposed  to  treat  with  the  Americans;  war  will  result  from  it 
and  the  war  will  have  neither  an  ol)iect  for  its  beginning  nor 
a  i)ian  for  its  end."  *  »         e. 

Correct  reports  from  Versailles  reached  Leopold  of  Tus- 
cany and  Joseph  of  Austria.    "  The  women  and  the  enthusiasm 
<)1  the  moment,"  so  predicted  the  latter  to  his  brother  before 
ho  en,    of  January,  "putting  the  ministers  in  fear  of  losinn. 
tiieir  places,  will  determine  them  to  make  war  on  the  English"^ 
and  they  could  commit  no  greater  folly."     While  "thj  two 
greatest  countries  in  Europe  were  fairly  running  a  race  for 
the  favor  of  the  Americans,"  the  question  of  a  l<rench  alliance 
With   them  was  discussed   by  Vergennes  with   the  Marquis 
dOssun,  th,>  late  F.-ench  am1)assador  in  Madrid,  as  the  best 
adviser  with  regard  to   Spain,  and  the  plan  of  action  was 
lormed.      Fhen  these  two  met  the  king  at  the  apartment  of 
^laurepas,  M-here  the  plan,  after  debate,  was  finally  settled 
JMaurej,as,  at  heart  opposed  to  the  war,  loved  ease  and  popular- 
*  Count  Montmoriu  to  Vcmennes,  Ma 


m 


J.  f. 


,  '* 


■'C      1 


,  5  January  1778.     MS. 


wr 


':!     i 


Ji 


■; 


H  '!  I M  !; 


i    * 


2i6     AMKRICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FR.\NCE.     ep.  iv. ;  on.  xvii. 

it^  too  well  to  cscajic  tlio  swa}'  of  external  opinion ;  and  Louis 
XVI.  sacriliccd  liis  own  inclination  and  liis  own  feelin-r  of 
justice  to  policy  of  state  and  the  o])ini()n  of  Lis  advisers.  ^So, 
on  the  sixth  of  rcbruary,  a  treaty  of  amity  and  C(»niinerce 
and  an  eventual  defensive  treaty  of  alliance  wefe  concluded 
between  the  king  of  France  and  the  Unit(;d  States  on  prin- 
ciples of  ecpiality  and  reciprocity,  and  for  the  most  part  in 
conformity  to  the  proposals  of  congress;     In  commerce  each 
})ai-ty  was  to  be  placed  on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored  na- 
tion.    The  king  of  France  promised  his  good  offices  with  the 
princes  and  powers  of  ]5arbary.    As  to  the  fisheries,  each  party 
reserved  to  itself  the  exclusive  possession  of  its  own.     Accept- 
ing the  French  interpretation  of  the  treaties  of  Utrecht  and 
of  Paris,  the  United  States  acknowledged  the  I'ight  of  French 
Mibjects  to  iisii  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  their  ex- 
clusive right  to  half  the  coast  of  that  island  for  drying-places. 
On  the  question  of  ownershi])  in  the  event  of  th<>  conquest  of 
Xewfonndlaml  the  treaty  wa;^  silent.     The  American  proposal, 
that  free  ships  give  freedom  to  goods  and  to  persons,  except  to 
soldiers  in  actual  service  of  an  enemy,  was  adopted.     Careful 
lists  were  made  out  of  contraband  merchandises.    The  absolute 
and  rnlimited  independence  of  the  United  States  was  described 
as  the  essential  end  of  the  defensive  alliance ;  and  the  two  par- 
ties nni^ually  engaged  not  to  lay  down  their  arms  until  it 
should  be  r.ssnred  by  the  treaties  terminating  the  war.     ]\rore- 
over,  the  Unifcd  States  guaranteed  to  France  the  possessions 
then  held  by  France  in  America,  as  well  as  those  which  it 
might  ac(piire  by  a  future  treaty  of  peace;  and,  in  like  man- 
ner, the  king  of  France  guaranteed  to  tb.   United  States  their 
present  possessions  and  accpiisitions  (hiring  ilie  war  from  (he 
domhiions  of  Great  Britain  in  North  America.     \  se])arate 
and  secret  net  reserved  to  the  king  of  Spain  th.'  power  of 
acceding  to  the  treaties.    AVithin  forty-two  hours  of  the  signa- 
ture of  these  treaties  of  connnerce  and  alliance  the  Uriti^i; 
ministry  received  tlie  news  by  a  s])ecial  messenger  from  their 
spy  in  Paris,  but  it  Wijs  not  divulged. 

On  the  eleventh,  Hillsborough  asked  of  the  duke  of  PJch- 
mond,  "in  what  maimer  he  meant  that  ICngland  should  crouch 
to  the  vipers  and  rebels  in  America  i    By  giving  up  the  sacred 


1778.  lliANOE  AND  THE   UNITED  STATES.  247 

rigl.t  of  tuxutiou  ?  or  by  yidding  to  l.er  a])surd  pretensions  about 
hercurt^..^  or  by  declaring  the  thirteen  provinces  indepen- 
dent ?       luchmond  answered  :  -  I  never  liked  the  declaratory 
act ,  I  voted  for  u  Witb  regret  to  obtain  the  repeal  of  the 
stamp-act;  1  wish  we  could  have  done  without  it;  I  looked 
upon  It  as  u  Piece  of  waste  paper  that  no  minister  would  ever 
have  the  madaess  to  revive;  1  will,  with  pleasure,  be  the  first 
o  repeal  it  or  to  give  it  up."     In  this  mood  Kichmond  sougm: 
Lannony  vvitli  Chatham.     On  the  same  day,  in  the  house  of 
commons  George  Grenviile  attacked  the  administration  in  the 
Jiarshest  terms,  and  pointed  out  Lord  Chatham  as  the  Droner 
person  to  treat  with  Amerir..     The  very  sincere  and  glowing 
words  of  eulogy  spoken  by  the  son  of  the  author  of  th,rstamTr 
tax  wei-e  pleasing  to  Lord  Cliatham  in  these  his  last  days.         " 
VYJule  the  Lritish  government  stumbled  in  the  dark,  Frank- 
lin placed  the  public  opinion  of  philosophical  France  conspicu- 
ous on  the  side  of  America.     Xo  man  of  that  centuiy  so 
nnbodied  the  idea  of  toleration  as  Voltaire;  for  fame  lie  was 
inicpial  ed  among  luuig  men  of  letters  ;  for  great  age  he  M-as 
venerable;  he,  nio.-e  than  Louis  XYL,  or  the  cabinet  of  tl^ 
ku.g,  represented  France  of  that  day  ;  and  he  was  come  up  to 
1  ans,  ben   with  years  to  receive  before  his  death  ^,he  homage 
of  Its  people    Wide  HKleod  was  the  difference  between  him  and 
America.     Jlu   foi- the  moment  they  were  in  harmony;  and 
beiore  he  had  been  a  week  in  Pans,  Franklin  claimed  lelve  to 
upon  hiin.     We  have  Voltaire's  account  of  the  interview, 
lianldm   bade  his  grandson  demand  the  ],enediction  of  the 
more  than  octogenarian,  and,  in  the  presence  of  twenty  persons, 
ho  gave  It  in  these  words :  "  Gon  axi,  Lnnc.av  ! "   Ev4iywhere 
V  oltaire  appeared  as  tlie  friend  of  America.     Beino-  in  com- 
pany where  the  wii^  of  Lafayette  was  present,  he  a^ked  that 
_lic  nud.t  be  brought  to  him,  kissed  her  hand,  and  spoke  to 
lK)i- the  praises  of  her  hus^  and  and  of  the  cause  in  which  he 

Almost  sinmllanoously,  Lord  Xorth,  on  tlu.  seventeenth  of 
•d.ruary   n.ade  known  to  the  h.Miso  of  commons  the  extent  of 

Z  ,';;;"'  !'^'^''i:  V^oinM^^^-  of  the  two  m..  one  declared 
he  intention  of  the  parliament  of  (Jreat  liritain  not  to  exercise 

t.'ie   right  ot   imposing  taxes   withui   the   colonies  of  North 


I  .1 


^     ^ 


248      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANCE. 


EP.  IV.  ;  CIT.  XVII. 


I  I 


(■  ' 


America,  the  otlicr  autliorized  commissioners  to  be  sent  to  the 
United  States.     In  a  speech  of  two  hours,  Lord  Xorth  avowed 
that  he  had  never  had  a  policy  of  his  o^\^l.     He  had  never  pro- 
posed any  tax  on  America  ;  he  had  fonnd  tlie  tea-tux  imposed, 
and,  wliile  he  had  not  moved  its  repeal,  he  never  devised  means 
to  enforce  it;  the  connnissioners  would  have  power  to  treat 
with  congress,  M-ith  provincial  assemblies,  or  with  AYashing- 
ton ;  to  order  a  truce ;  to  suspend  all  laws ;  to  grant  pardons 
and  rewards;  to  restore  the  constitution  as  it  stood  before 
the  troubles.     ''  A  dull,  melancholy  silence  for  some  time  suc- 
ceeded to  the  speech.     It  had  been  heard  with  profound  atten- 
tion, but  without  a  single  marn  of  approbation  to  iiny  part  of 
it  from  any  party  or  man  in  the  house.     Astonishment,  dejec- 
tion, and  fear  overclouded  the  assembly."     After  the  hotise  of 
conmiuns  had  given  leave  to  bring  in  tlie  bills,  Hartley,  acting 
on  an  understanding  with  Lord  A^)rth,  enclosed  co])ies  of  them 
to  Franklin.     Franklin,  with   the  knowledge  of  Yergenues, 
answered :  "  If  jieace,  by  a  treaty  with  America,  ui)on  equal 
terms,  is  really  desired,  your  commissioners  need  not  go  there 
for  it.     If  wise  and  honest  men,  such  as  Sir  George  Saville, 
the  bisho])  of  St.  Asaph,  and  youi-self,  were  to  come  over  here 
immediately  with  powers  to  treat,  you  might  not  only  obtain 
peace  with  America,  but  prevent  a  war  with  France." 

The  conciliatory  bills,  \.  Inch  with  slight  moditi-ations  be- 
came statutes  by  nearly  imanimous  consent,  contii-med  the  nun- 
istry  in  po\ver.  The  king  of  France,  from  regard  to  his  dignity, 
made  a  formal  declaration  to  Great  Britain  of  his  treaties  with 
the  United  States.  British  ships-of-war  had  captiiivd  many 
French  ships,  but  the  ministry  had  neither  comnnmicated  tie 
instructions  under  which  their  officers  acted,  nor  plvim  heed  to 
the  reclamations  of  the  French  government,  'ihe  rescript, 
^\hich  on  the  thirteeiuh  of  March  was  h::'t  by  the  French 
ambassador  with  theBritisJi  secretary  of  sta.  ..  .ihuouiiced  that 
"the  United  States  of  Xorth  iAiserica  are  m  fuii  possession 
of  mdependence,  which  they  had  dechrrud  on  the  fourth  of  July 
1770;  that,  to  consolidate  the  conuec^i*  .1  betwe^'n  the  two  na- 
tions, tlieir  respective  plenipoteutiaii.:o  had  s:j.;-ned  a  treatv  of 
friendship  an.d  commerce, but  without  any  ex'^lusivc  advantages 
in  favor  of  the  French  nation.     The  king  1^  detc.niinod  to  pro 


i;  ii  1 1 


k^ 


*»*<**'■ 


rigfW! 


17»8. 


FRANCE  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


249 

tect  tl.o  Iawf„l  oom,„c,-ec  of  I,i.s  euhjc-cts,  a,Kl  for  tbat  pnrposo 

AmSr'""""""  '"  "•""'■'  """  *»  ^"■"^''  States  of  ZS 

This  declaration  crtahliel.cl  a  state  of  war  between  En-drnd 

and  Fra.ee    Ti,e  British  a„n,assacloru-asi„,,„editeC2«l 
and  the  reeall  not.hed  to  the  French  amb.^sador.    Lorf  Nor  ft 
became  despondent,  a,id  professed  a  desin,  to  n.alce  way  fir 
Lord  Chatham.     The  Idng  on  the  tiftoenth  answ      d  :  "L 
clear  cxpanat.on  that  Lord  Chatham  is  to  step  forth  to  sn,  no, 
yo„,  I  wdl  reccvc  hin,  with  open  arms.    I  lill  „„i;    I     „' 
pnt  before  yo„r  ejes  my  most  inm,.st  thonslits  tli  no  nd 
vantage  to  n.y  ^nntry  nor  personal  danger  to  mp^tf  el  malt 
n.e  ad  re.s  n.jself  to  Lord  Chatb  n,,  or  to  any  oft  "  tanXt 
"pposition.     I  would  rather  lose  the  .rown  I  now  wea     Inn 
hear  the  ,gno,nn.y  of  po.,.,essing  it  nnder  their  shackle    '  yZ 
ha-e  now  full  power  to  a-t,  bnt  I  don't  expect  Lord  Chatl  nn 
-Kl  i.,s  crew  wdl<.o„,e  to  your  as.sistanco."     Fo.x  wonMlnye 
consented  to  a  coalition,  Lad  it  been  agreeable  to  his  frie X 
blielburuo  answered    nstaiitlv  ''Tmvl  ni    ^i  ^'' -^^lenab. 

dictator.    I  knou-  that  lS  Cha^,   m  ft'in  ""f  '°  "" 

snllicient  which  does  not  eonnn^  ™"  ^      ■*"     ''"'*'"  "'" 

«ns,-eply  was  reported  to  bin,,  broke  °ut  ^vith  yio  ene  r«lorS 
Chathan.,  tbat  perlldions  man,  asdietator!  Kotbim  sh-dl  S 
me  to  treat  personally  «.ith  Lor,l  Chatham.     Ex  Se    '  m     ! 

-i.l::f  niy'da;:-?'"'^'  "•"'■"'  '"-"^  ■""-'"•"  *-"-- 

After  .night's  rest,  the  king  wrote  with  still  more  enoriry  • 
v..  c„ns„lera„on  in  i;-" ,  .,,,„„  „„,<„  „,,  ^       ^„  „^^' , 

it;  1  "if  ;;•'  T"  ^'t  '"  ^^'■"'  ^  •■■"■ii--;diy 

n^n,  the  louls,  Roekn.gham  advised  to  break  the  alliance 


1 

■ 

IS 

^■'1 

1 

11 


pit 


i*f{ 


1        '-                 .     ; 

■    J  li 

V  ^H 

1^1 ! 

i 

Ill 


U     i: 


H 


11      «: 

ill 


250     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  cu.  xvii. 

between  France  and  tlie  United  States  hy  aclcnowledo-incr 
American  independence.  Eiclimond  still  lioped  to  avokl  a 
war.  Lord  Slielbnrne  d^v■elt  on  the  greatness  of  tlie  affront 
oiiered  by  France  and  the  impossibility  of  not  resenting  it, 
yet  lie  would  not  listen  to  a  private  overture  from  the  minis- 
ters. "  Without  Lord  Chatham,"  he  said,  "  any  new  arrano-o- 
nient  would  be  inellicient ;  with  Lord  Chatham,  nothing  could 
be  done  but  by  an  entire  new  calunet  and  a  change  in  the  chief 
departments  of  the  law."  On  the  report  of  this  language,  the 
king  wrote  his  last  word  to  Lord  Xorth :  "  Ftather  than  be 
shackled  by  these  desperate  men,  I  will  see  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment introduced  into  this  island,  and  lose  my  crown  rather 
than  wear  it  as  a  disgrace." 

The  twenlieth  of  March  was  tlie  day  appointed  for  the  pres- 
entation of  the  American  commissioners  to  the  king  of  France 
in  the  palace  built  by  Louis  XLV.  at  Yersailles.  The  world 
thought  only  of  Franklin;  but  he  Avas  accompanied  by  his  two 
colleagues  and  by  the  unreceived  ministers  to  Prussia  and  Tus- 
cany. These  four  glittered  in  lace  and  powder ;  the  patriarch 
was  dressed  in  the  plain  g.da  coat  of  Manchester  velvet  which 
ho  had  used  at  the  levee  of  George  III.— the  same  which,  ac- 
eoi-ding  to  t]<e  custom  of  that  age,  ho  had  worn,  as  it  proved, 
for  the  1  lie  in  England,  when  as  agent  of  ^lassachusetts 

he  had       vu,    -ed  before  tlie  privy  comicll— with  white  stock- 
ings, spec,  <  es  on  his  nose,  a  round  white  hat  under  his  arm, 
and  his  thin  gray  hair  in  its  natural  state.     The  crov>-d  through 
which^they  passed  received  them  with  long-contiimed  api)lauso. 
The  king,  without  any  imusual  courtesy,  said  to  them :  '•  I  wish 
congress  to  be  assured  of  my  friendship."    After  tlu^  ceremony 
they  paid  a  visit  to  the  wife  of  Lafayette,  and  dined  with  the 
secretary  of  foreign  alfairs.     Two  davs  later  they  were  intro- 
duced to  the  still  youtliful  Marie  Antoinette,  who  yielded  will- 
ingly to  generous  impulses  in  behalf  of  republicans,  and  by 
her  sympathy  made  the  support  of  America  a  fashion  at  the 
French  court.    The  king  felt  all  the  whil .  at-  If  he  were  wrong- 
ing the  cause  of  monarchy  itself  by  his  .icicnowledgment  of 
rebel  repu])iicans,  and  engaged  in  the  American  -evolution 
against  his  own  will,  only  because  members  of  his  cabinet  in- 
sisted that  it  wim  his  duty  to  France  to  take  re\euge  on  Enir- 


It    1 


.^^'5?#crV- 


1778. 


FRANCE  AND  THK  UNITED  STATES. 


261 

land     Po,-son.-,IIy  l,e  w,^  irritated,  a.id  did  not  disguise  Lis 

e.at,„n.     Tl,e  praises  lavished  on  Franklin  by  those  "ound 

the  <i,,eo«  fretted  him  to  peevishness,  and  he  moeked  Tt 

Znfde'potnaf  '''"^'"^™^  "''"''--  ^'  *^^  ^'-- 
,     The  pique  of  the  king  was  in  no  degree  due  to  any  defect 
m  Frankhn     He  was  a  man  of  the  soundest  nndalnlT 
never  d,sturhed  hy  reeolleetious  or  fears,  by  ca,  rido^s  a^"!' 
ties,  or  the  suseeptibiUties  of  selfJove.     Free  LrtlmT 
.ons  of  poetie  natures,  he  loved  truth  for  its  own  sake   nd  saw 
tinngs  as  they  were.    As  a  consequenee,  he  had  no  elo     end 
hu    that  of  eleamess.    He  knew  the  moral  world  to  be  sub 
,      jeeted  to  laws  hke  the  natu,.l  world;  in  eondueting  .11   ™ 
he  remembc^d  the  necessary  relation  of  eause  to  eifect  ata 
n,g  only  at  what  was  possible;  and  with  a  tranquil  .m' Id  Te 
g  ed  the  treaty  with  France,  just  as  with  cahu  obscrv.2^ 
he  had  contemplated  the  dange,-s  of  his  country.     I„  regard  to 
money  he  was  frugal,  that  he  nnght  be  inde/endent  and  that 
he  might  be  generous.     lie  owed  good  heath  to  hi    ex™ 
I.la.y  temperance.     Ilabitually  gay,  employn.ent  was  h  so 
»urce  ,.ga„,st  weariness  .and  sorrow;  .and  contentment  eamt 
f^^nlns  supe„„„ty  to  ambition,  interest,  or  vanity.    1^  "e 
was  about  hnn  more  of  n.oral  greatness  than  appeared  on  tl  o 
™.  face ;  au.l,  while  ho  made  no  boast  of  nnsellish'l levof °„t 
he  w„,dd  have  surely  met  martyrdom  had  duty  deuu,ud:d   t    ' 
The  ofhcnd  conduct  of  Franklin  .and  his    utereoui-se  w  h 
persons  of  h.ghest  rank  were  marked  by  the  n.ost  d'-Hc  te  ,ro 
pnoty  as  well  ,«  by  self-respect.     Ilis'd.aru,  was  s    ;  hi; 
.u  hgave  grace  to  bis  style  „„d  ease  to  his  auumer  .     xj 
1  lo.  oug  eourtier  could  have  been  nu.re  free  from  vnl^ari  y  • 
«  d,plou,ahst  more  true  to  his  position  ,.s  u,iuister  of  a'lv  ,1' 
he,  no  laborer  more  consistent  with  his  former  life  as  a  w  ,rk 
."g-nan  ;  and  thus  he  won  respect  and  favor  from  ai       Wilt 
a  c,.|el,rah.d  cause  was  to  be  heard  before  the  parliament  of 
lans,   he  throng  which  lilled  the  house  and  its  aZ  ch! 

served  for  hnn  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people     At  the 
opom,  a    tne  theatre,,,  sin.ilar  hono,.  were  p,id'  l',       t 
John  Ada,,,  who  said:  "  ^'ot  Leibnit.  or  .Newton,  not  ltd! 


f 


n 


'tf 


;'i 


"  !; 


I'i\ 


M 


lull 


252     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  en.  xviL 


i      !, 


I  (  ' 


N 


eric  or  Yoltaire,  had  a  more  nnivcrsal   repntation ;   and  his 
character  was  more  beloved  and  esteemed  than  that  of  them 
all."    Thronghont  Europe  there  was  scarcely  a  citizen  or  a  peas- 
ant of  any  culture  who  was  not  familiar  with  his  name,  and  who 
did  not  consider  him  as  a  friend  to  all  men.     At  the  academy 
Alembert  addressed  him  as  one  who  had  svrcnched  the  thun- 
<Jerbolt  from  the  cloud,  the  sceptre  from  tyrants ;  and  both 
these  ideas  were  of  a  nature  to  pass  easily  into  the  common 
mmd.     From  the  part  which  he  had  taken  in  the  emancipa- 
tion of  America,  imagination  transfigured  him  as  the  man  who 
had  separated  the  colonies  from  Great  Britain,  had  framed 
their  best  constitutions  of  government,  and  by  counsel  and 
example  would  show  how  to  abolish  all  political  evil  throuo-]i- 
out  the  worid.     iralesherbes  spoke  of  the  excellence  of  die 
institutions  that  permitted  a  printer,  tlic  son  of  a  tallow-chand- 
ler, to  act  a  great  part  in  public  affairs ;  and,  if  Malesherijes 
reasoned  so,  how  much  more  the  workmen  of  Paris  and  the 
people.     Thus  Franklin  was  the  venerable  impei-sonation  of 
democracy,  so  calmly  decorous,  so  free  from  a  .lisposition  to 
quarrel  with  the  convictions  of  others,  that,  while  he  was  the 
delight  of  free-thinking  philosophers,  he  escaped  the  hatred 
of  the  clergy,  and  his  presence  excited  no  jealousy  in  tbc  old 
nobility.     lie  remarked  to  those  in  Paris  who  learned  of  him 
the  secret  of  statesmanship:  "lie  who  shall  introduce  into 
public   affairs   the   principles   of  primitive   Christianity  \\all 
change  the  face  of  the  world;"  and  we  know  from  Condorcet 
that  he  said  in  a  public  company:  "You  perceive  Liberty  es- 
tablish herself  and  floui'ish  almost  under  your  eyes;  I  dare  to 
predict  that  by  and  by  you  will  be  anxious  to  taste  her  bless- 
ings."    In  this  M-ay  he  conciliated  the  most  opposite  natures, 
yet  not  for  himself.     Whatever  favor  ho  met  in  society,  what- 
ever honor  he  received  from  tlie  academy,  whatever  authority 
he  gained  as  a  man  of  science,  whatever  distinction  came  to 
hira  through  the  good  will  of  the  people,  ^vhatever  fame  he 
acquired  throughout  Europe,  he  turned  to  account  for  the  good 
of  lis  country.    Surrounded  by  colleagnes,  some  of  whom  were 
jealous  of  his  superiority,  and  for  no  service  whatever  were 
greedy  of  the  public  money,  he  threw  their  angry  demands 
into  the  fire.    Arthur  Lee  intrioued  to  supplant  luiii,  kard  ma 


"  I!  ff  rir 


1778. 


FRANCE  AND  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


253 

ligned  liim  witlj  the  strangeness  of  passionate  frenzj;  but  he 
net  their  hos  ihty  by  patient  indifference.  Never  detraet^n^ 
from  the  merit  of  any  one  he  diVl  nnf  ,r  i  •  i  "*^^^^^*'"g 
11..,  -^  '  ^^^  ^o*  disdam  Horv,  and  hp 
know  Low  to  pardou  envy.  Great  as  were  tl,o  i^juri  s^  ti  u 
ho  .■eee.vod  u,  Lngland,  I,e  used  towa.-d  that  powlr  u,.dIvL 
iiig  iraukuess  and  fairness.  "uuenat 

In  England,  Eookinaham,  Eiohmond,  Burke,  Fox,  and  Con- 

;^Ttf  T     ,"  ;'""'  "'"  "*"  °*  ''™'''""-    So,  too  did  Lorf 
.North,  though  he  was  too  selfish  to  bo  true  to  1  i,  eonrietions 
On  the  other  s,de  stood  the  king;  but,  for  reasons  whicl  were 
h     tul  to    he  fang,  Chalhan.  arrayed  hhns..If  with    nlxi! 
hil  t  ■  aga,„st  An,er,can  independence.    Eiehmond,  as  a  friend 
to  l,bortyn,ade  advances  to  Chatham,  sending  himthedrft 
of  an  address  which  he  was  to  n,ove  in  the  house  If  io^ 
andentrea  „,g„f  bin.  mutual  confidence  and  support     S 
h-n  rejected  the  overture,  and  avowed  the  pi  p„se  of  on 
posnig  the  motion.    Accordingly,  „„  the  scvLtl    of  AprU 

o  tbe  knee.,  pale  and  wasted  away,  his  eyes  still  retainiin. 
tar  h,^,  eame  n,to  the  house  of  lords,  leaning  upon  S 
fl  ilnam  P.tt  and  his  son-in-law  Lord  Mahon.  l^,e  peersstZ 
..|>  out  o  respect  as  he  hobbled  to  his  L.nch.  The  d"  klof 
L  Inuond  proposed  and  spoke  elaborately  in  favSr  rf  „ 

leoo  nition  of   the  mdo])endent  sovereignty  of  the  thirteen 

2^7'Z^  ;'  f  ■™'-  f  adn,i,tistLion.     Ctahl 
wlo  alone  of  Lr  tish  statesmen  Iiad  a  right  to  hivite  America 

and  cidhculty,    eaning  on  his  erntehes  and  supported  mider 

r  ves  Z:.,r,n       *"'  T  '"""'  '"""  '''"  <=""«'''  ""d  ""^ft'g 
m»  eyes  towiu'd  heaven,  he  sa  d :  "  T  thank  (iod  tl„t  „i  i      f 

.;.  nn,  an,l  with  more  than  one  foot  i     he  Jrlt  I  L   W 

a  >Ie  to  c-on,e  this  day  to  stand  up  in  the  can*  o?  my  coumrv 

perhaps  never  again  to  enter  the  wails  of  this  house"     S  it 

ness  |.reva:ied.     His  voice,  at  first  low  and  fe  We  rosot>d 

::'bror''i;r'  ,"■* '"  ^p-""  ^*«'-''  "-~- 

we  e  bioUn,   ns  words  were  no  more  than  flashes  through 
uarkuess,  shreds  of  sublin.e  but  uneonnectod  cl„,ulce.    fie 


ttP> 


'l, 


I  ;il 


if 


I 


n 


'■Mi' 


m 


I  Ir 


I 


.y..i 


254     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  cn.xvir. 

recalled  his  prophecies  of  the  evils  which  were  to  follow  such 
American  measures  as  had  been  adopted,  adding  at  the  end  of 
each :  "  and  so  it  proved."     He  could  not  act  with  Lord  Rock- 
ingham and  his  friends,  because  they  persisted  in  unretracted 
error.     He  laiigned  to  scorn  the  idea  of  an  invasion  of  Eno-land 
by  Spain  or  by  France  or  by  both.     » If  peace  cannot  bo  pre- 
served with  honor,  why  is  not  war  declared  without  hesitation « 
This  kingdom  has  still  resources  to  maintain  its  just  rights 
Any  state  is  better  than  despair.     My  lords,  I  rejoice  that  the 
grave  has  not  closed  upon  me,  that  I  am  still  alive  to  lift  up 
my  voice  against  the  dismemberment  of  this  ancient  and  most 
noble  monarchy."     The  duke  of  Eichmond  answered  with  re- 
spect for  the  name  of  Chatham,  so  dear  to  Englishmen,  but  he 
resolutely  maintained  the  wisdom  of  avoiding  a  war  in  which 
France  and  S]xiin  would  have  America  for  their  ally.     Lord 
Chatham  would  have  replied;  but,  after  two  or  three  unsuc- 
cessful efforts  to  rise,  he  fell  backward  and  seemed  in  the 
agonies  of  death.     Every  one  of  the  peers  pressed  round  him 
save  Mansiield,  who  sat  unmoved.     The  senseless  sufferer  wai 
borne  from  the  Iiouse  with  tender  solicitude  to  the  bed  from 
which  he  never  was  to  rise. 

The  king  wrote  at  once  to  Lord  K'orth:  "May  not  the 
political  exit  of  Lord  Chatham  incline  you  to  continue  at  the 
head  of  my  affairs  ?"     The  worid  was  saddened  by  the  loss  of 
so  great  a  man.     The  elder  Pitt  never  seemed  more  thorouo-h- 
ly  the  spokesman  of  the  people  of  England  than  in  the  £st 
months  of  his  career.     He  came  to  parliament  ^vith  an  all-im- 
passioned love  of  liberty,  the  proudest  sentiment  of  national- 
ity, liis  old  scorn  for  the  house  of  Bourbon,  and  a  biirnin- 
passion  for  recovering  the  American  colonies  by  revivino-  and 
establishing  their  rights.     His  eloquence  in  the  eai-ly  part  of 
the  session  seemed  to  some  of  his  hearers  to  surpass  all  that 
they  had  heard  of  the  orators  of  Greece  or  Kome.     In  his  kist 
days  he  was  still  hoping  for  a  free  EngLu.l  and  a  house  of 
commons  truly  representing  the   British    peoi)le.      AVith  a 
haughtiness  all  the  more  mai-vellous  from  his  age,  decrepitude 
and  insulation,  he  confronted  alone  all  branches  of  the  nobility' 
who  had  lost  a  continent  in  the  vain  hope  of  saving  themselves 
a  iilnlhns  "i  t^^^  I"^"nd  of  the  land-tax,  and  declared  that  there 


liiti 


1778.  FKANCE  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES.  265 

conld  l,e  no  good  govornrucnt  but  nnder  an  administration  tliat 
Bhould  crush  to  atoms  all  parties  of  tlie  aristocracy,  and  inter- 
pret law  m  favor  of  liberty.  He  died  like  a  hero  struck  down 
on  the  field  of  battle  after  the  day  was  lost ;  in  heart,  more  than 
ever,  the  great  commoner.  With  logical  consistency,  the  house 
of  lords  refused  to  attend  his  funeral. 

By  this  time  the  news  of  the  French  alliance  with  the 
LTnited  States  had  spread  through  Europe.     It  ^^  as  received  at 
fet.  Petersburg  with  hvely  satisfaction.     In  England,  the  kino- 
the  nnnistry,  parliament,  the  Britisa  nation,  all  were  unwillint; 
to  speak  the  word  independence,  wisliing  at  least  to  retain  some 
preference  by  compact.     Custom,  nnitual  confidence,  sameness 
of  angiiage  and  of  civil  law,  the  habit  of  using  English  manu- 
factures then-  cheapness  and  merit,  of  themselves  secured  to 
England  almost  a  monopoly  of  American  commerce  for  a  ffeu- 
eration,  and  yet  she  stickled  for  the  formal  concession  of  spe- 
cial commercial  advantages.     Deluded  by  the  long  usa-e  of 
luonopoly,  she  would  not  see  that  equality  was  all  she  needed. 
Once  more  Hartley,  as  an  informal  agent  fi'om  Lord  Korth, 
.xixured  to  Pans  to  seek  of  Erauklin  an  offer  of  some  alliance 
or  at  least  of  some  favor  in  trade.     Franklin  answered  him  ai 
he  answered  other  emissaries,  that  the  Americans  enjoved  inde- 
pendence already ;  its  acknowledgment  would  secure  t;  Britain 
ciual  but  not  superior  advantages  hi  commerce.     Fox  was 
sutished  with  this  olier,  and  on  the  tenth,  when  it  was  moved 
m  the  house  of  commons  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  com- 
n).ssioners,  he  held  up  to  view  tliat  greater  benetits  to  trade 
^^ou  d  follow  from  friendly  relations  with  independent  Amer- 
ica tJian  from  nominal  dependence. 

Fox  W.XS  hi  the  right,  but  was  not  heeded.  Jackson,  the 
former  faithf u  agent  of  Connecticut,  the  fellow-laborer  ^ith 
1  rank  m  for  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  ever  consistent  with 
hiniself  even  wlien  he  became  secretary  of  Grenville,  refused 
to  be  oi  the  commission  for  peace,  because  he  saw  that  it  was 
a  delusion  accorded  by  the  king  to  quiet  Lord  North  and  to 

t .  iV?  r'l  T'^  ^'^'''  '^''  «««^-''^-uei-s  arrived,  the 
Urn  ed  States  had  taken  its  part.  On  the  twenty-first  of  April, 
W  ashington  gave  his  opinion  to  a  member  of  congress  •  "  Noth- 
ing short  of  independence  can  possibly  do.     A  peace  on  an^ 


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250      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  ,r.;  r.r.xvu. 

other  terms  would  bo  a  peaco  of  war.     The  injuries  we  have 
received  tr..,u  the  llriti.sh  nation  were  so  unj)rovoked,  and  have 
been  so  great  and  ho  nmnj,  that  they  can  never  be  forgotten. 
Our  hdehty  .^  a  people,  our  character  as  men,  are  opposed  to 
a  coalition  with  them  as  subjects."     Tlie  twc.nty.secoml  was  a 
day  of  genera   j)ublic  fasting  and  humiliation,  with  prayers  to 
Almighty  (Jod  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate  the  union      2 
Bern  bled  on  that  day  in  a  house  for  public  worship,  cono-ress 
resolved  "  to  hold  no  conference  or  t.eaty  with  any  cLnmi.iion 
ei.  on  the  part  of  Great  Ih-itain,  unless  they  shall,  as  a  prelimi- 
nary thereto,  either  witluh.u.  their  fleets  and  armies,  or  in  posi 
tiveandexinrvss  ternis  acknowledge  the  indc.pendence  ot' the' 
states."     ''Lord  North  is  two  years  too  late  with  his  political 
manoouvre,"  responded  George  Clinton,  then  govenior  of  Kew 
1      T     -l'  "^f  ''''*  ^  '"•-'"  Ameri<.m  -  willing  t.  acce,)t  peace 
under  LonUs^Mb'sterms."  "Xooirers,"wr<>ter.,l,ert^^^^^^ 
ought  to  have  a  hearing  of  one  moment,  unless  preceded  by  ac- 
knowledgment of  our  independence,  because  we  can  never  be  a 
happy  people  undc-r  their  domination.    Great  Britain  would  still 
enjcy  the  greatest  share  and  most  valuable  parts  of  our  trade." 
.    ^'^^^  I;ntain  would  grant  no  peace,  on  the  tenth  the  French 
ung  despatched  from  Toulon  a  fleet,  bearing  Gerard  as  his  nibi- 
ster  to  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  that  flie  alliance  be- 
tween France  and  America  might  be  riveted.     On  the  t^ent; 
ni  th,  wlK.i  in  the  presence  of  Franklin  and  his  newly  arrived 
colleague  John  Adams,  Voltaire  was  solemnly  receiv^l  by  Ihe 
French  academy,  philosophic  France  gave  tiie  right  haild  of 
fellowship  to  America  as  its  chihl  by  adoption.     The  nume  ou 
assembly  denuanded  a  vi.lI,lo  sign  of  this  union;  and  in  ^ 
presence  of  all  that  was  most  distinguished  in  let'ters  Id  ^^^ 

11  ^JZ  ""^"'^"  ^^^^^V^n.0  was  a  war  fo^r  free- 

.n^^lr\'''''-'  ^o»^^>inod  to  procure  the  alliance  of  France 
and  the  American  republic;  but  the  force  which  brouo-ht  all 
miluences  harmoniously  together,  overruling  the  timoX Ic^^! 
ty  of  Maurepas  and  the  dull  reluctance  of  Louis  XVI  was 
the  movement  of  intellectual  freedom. 

The  spirit  of  free  inrpiry  penetrated  the  Catholic  world  as 


■ 

;■  t 

1778.  FRANCE   AND  THE   UNITED  STATES.  357 

it  penetrated  the  Protestant  world.     Eacli  of  their  methods 
of  n.form  recognise.l  tliat  every  man  shares  in  tlie  clernal  rca 
son     Lutlier,  as  he  climbed  on  his  knees  the  marble  steps  of 
a  cluirch  at  Eome,  heard  a  voice  within  him  cry  out-  "  Justi 
fication  is  by  faith  alone  ;"  and  he  vindicated  man's  mdividu- 
ahty  from  the  point  of  view  of  religion.    Descartes,  meditating 
on  a  November  mght  on  the  banks  of  the  Dannbe,  summoned 
each  mdividual  nnnd,  in  the  consciousness  of  its  freedom  to 
bring  to  judgment  all  tradition  and  all  received  opinion,  Ld 
to  prove  all  things,  that  it  may  hold  f^tst  only  that  which  ap- 
proves Itself  to  be  true.  ^ 

A  practical  diU'erence  marked  the  kindred   systems-   the 
one  was  the  method  of  continnity  and  gradual  reform ';   the 
oclier  of  an  instantaneous,  complete,  and   thorougliK'  radical 
revolution.     The  principle  of  the  reformation  waked  up  a  su- 
perstitious world,  «  asleep  in  lap  of  legends  old,"  but  did  not 
renounce  all  external  authority;  and  so  it  escaped  premature 
conflicts.     By  the  principle  of  Descartes,  the  individual  man 
at  once  and  altogether  stood  aloof  from  king,  church,  universi- 
ties, public  opinion,  traditional  scieiu      all  external  authority 
and  all  other  beings,  and,  turning  every  intruder  out  of  the 
niner  temple  of  the  mind,  kept  guard  at  its  portal  to  bar  the 
entry  to  every  belief  that  had  not  fii  st  obtained  a  passport  from 
his  own  reason.     No  one  ever  applied  the  theory  of  Descartes 
with  rigid  inflexibility;  a  man  can  as  little  move  without  the 
weight  of  the  superincumbent  atmosphere,  as  escape  altogether 
the  opinions  of  the  age  in  which  he  sees  the  hght ;  but  the  theory 
was  there,  and  it  rescued  philosophy  from  bondage  to  monkish 
theology,  forbade  to  the  church  all  in(piisition  into  private 
opinion,  and  gave  to  reason,  and  not  to  civil  magistrates  the 
Liamtenance  of  truth.     The  nation:-    -at  learned  their  les'sona 
<.f  liberty  from  Luther  and  Calvin  ^.ent  forward  in  their  natu- 
ral development,  and  their  institutions  grew  and  shaped  them- 
selves according  to  the  increasing  pnl.lic  intelligence.     The 
nations  that  learned  their  lessons  of  liberty  from  Descaites 
were  led  to  question  everything,  and  to  attempt  the  renewal 
ot  society  through  the  destruction  of  the  past.     The  progress 
ot  liberty  m  all  Protestant  countries  was  marked  by  modera- 
tion.    The  German  Lessing,  the  antitype  of  Luther,  said  to  his 


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258    AMERICA  in  ALLUNOE  WITH  FRANCE.    «p.  ,v. ;  en.  i„,. 

eoantrymon:  "Don't  put  o„t  the  candles  till  day  breaks" 
.^mer,ca  conducted  a  revolution  on  the  highest  nrfne  prof 
freedom  wth  such  circumspcetiou  that  it  seemed  to  be  on  v  a 
war  agamst  mnovatiou.  On  the  other  hand,  free  thought  in 
rr.ance  as  pure  m  its  source  as  free  thought  in  America,  bfeamc 
speculative  and  skeptical  and  impassioned.  As  it  broke  fe 
chams,  at  started  up  with  a  scntinLt  of  reven  -e  a^ai^st  tit 

he  nghts  of  mmd  and  assumed  to  rale  the  world.   Inniirv  took 
«P  ^vjth  zeal  every  question  in  science,  politics,  and  morl 
Free  thought  paid  hom.agc  to  tho  •'  n,ajesty  of  na  „re;"  i^vt 
sSlt    V  '"''"'°  "'  T'"^  ■'  -%-d  tne'a,>  we  breathe  ^Z 

skiffl,  explored  oceans  a>Kl  measured  the  ea,-tl, ;  revived  an 
cent  learning;  revelled  in  the  philosophy  of  GreecTwhW, 

sentiment  by  study  of  the  history  of  Athens  -md   T?™„„ . 

rsrr  to°4f""^-™  ""T^^  -"  *  Jedtetrd 

01  itarnmg  to  the  common  uuderstandhiff.     Now  it  tran.lnfpri 

Xd~efo7F  ""^  -r^-™~««t;ti:n:  rdt 

ceTme  ted  Itl,    ,        ?  ™  f  "  """'°'  ^ "'«"'  "-"^  C'ondor- 
cet  melted  with  admiration  and  sympathy  as  they  read  the  or 

game  laws,  n  which  the  unpretending  law-give  Jo  t  new  con 

"'d'eiu  r. ' """. "'°  ™'"  "*  '^'"  "*^  '^'^^ 

reed„r„f  mi",      •^  "'  ^P"'     ^"  "*"=-«««  ««'  fevered 
treedom  of  mmd  conspired  together.     Anti-prelatical  Puritan 
ism  was  embraced  by  anti-preiatical  skepticisi ,.  The  ex  Id  S 

a7dThr:;^'"1  '"""rr  '"  '^'"^''V  «>•  -"  Ne^E  gland 
and  the    tates  where  Huguenots  and  Presbyterians  prevfiled 
One  great  current  of  vigorous  living  „pi„i„u',  ,Mch  lierewt 

ety,  driving  all  tho  clouds  m  tho  sky  in  one  direction     Min 
.ste«  and  king  and  nation  were  hurried  .along  togcaer.' 

Pyrenees.    The  Bourbon  of  France  was  compelled  by  the 
pubhc  opinion  of  France  into  an  alliance  witl   Amerfca-   n 

Sir  of' s  "'■':' "","?  ^™^'"' "'«'  »""":;;:* 

palaces      ThcT     7™''  ""  ■""■""  ™'S°  "^  «'»"'^'l"  "■ 
palaces.     The  Spanish  people  did  not  share  the  passTou  of 


1773.  FRANCE  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES.  259 

the  French,  for  they  had  not  had  the  training  of  tlie  French 
In  France,  there  was  no  inquisition;  in  Spain,  the  kino-  would 
have  submitted  his  own  son  to  its  tribunal     Descartes   tlio 
pliilosophizing  soldier  of  France,  emancipated  thought ;  Lo'vo^a 
the  contemplative  soldier  of  Spain,  organized  repression ;  fo^ 
the  proud  Corneille,  so  full  of  republican  fire,  Spain  had  the 
monkish  Calderon.     In  Spain  no  poet  like  Mo^^ere  unfrocked 
hypocrisy.     Xot  only  had  she  no  Calvin,  no  Voltaire,  no  Rous- 
seau; she  had  no  Pascal  to  mock  at  casuistry;  no  prelate  to 
mstruct  her  princes  in  the  rights  of  the  people  like  Fenelon 
or  defend  her  church  against  Rome,  or  teach  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  God  like  Bossuet;  no  controversies  through  the 
pres.  hke  those  with  the  Huguenots ;  no  edict  of  toleration 
like  tliat  of  ]S  antes.     A  richly  endowed  church  always  leans 
to  Arminianism   and  justification  by   works ;   it  was  so  in 
Spam,  where  the  spiritual  instincts  of  man,  which  are  the  life 
of  freedom,  had  been  trodden  under  foot,  and  alms-givinc  to 
professed  mendicants  usurped  the  place  of  charity.     Natural 
science  in  its  progress  gently  strij.s  from  religion  the  follies  of 
superstition,  and  purifies  and  spiritualizes  faith ;  iu  Spain  it 
was  areaded  as  of  kin  to  the  Islam;  and,  as  the  material  world 
was  excluded  from  its  rightful  place  among  the  objects  of  study 
It  avenged  itself  by  overlaying  religion.     The  idea  was  lost  in 
tne  synibol;  to  the  wooden  or  metal  cross  was  imputed  the 
worth  of  mward  piety ;  religious  feeling  was  cherished  by  mac.- 
nihcent  ceremonies  to  dehght  the  senses;  penitence  in  tU, 
world  made  atonement  by  using  the  hair  shirt,  the  scourge 
and  maceration ;  the  immortal  soul  was  thought  to  be  pureed 
V  material  fiames;  by  the  confessional  the  merciless  inquisi- 
tion kept  spies  over  opinion  in  every  house,  and  quelled  free 
thought  by  the  dungeon,  the  torture,  and  the  stake.     Koth- 
mg  was  left  m  Spain  that  could  tolerate  Protestantism,  leost 
of  all  the  stern  Protestantism  of  America;  nothing  conge- 
nial to  free  thought,  least  of  all  to  free  thought  as  it  was  in 
V  ranee. 

France  was  alive  with  the  restless  spirit  of  inquiry  •  the 
country  beyond  the  Pyrenees  was  still  benumbed  by  supersti- 
tion, priestcraft,  and  tyranny  over  mind,  and  the  church 
l^3rough  Its  organization  maintained  a  stagnant  calm.    As  there 


''I 


2C0     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  rv. ;  oh.  xvii. 

was  no  union  between  the  French  mind  and  the  Spanish 
mind,  between  the  French  people  and  the  Spanish  people, 
the  union  of  the  governments  was  simply  the  result  of  the 
family  compact  between  its  kings,  which  the  engagement 
between  France  and  the  United  States  without  the  assent  of 
Spain  violated  and  aumlled.  The  self-love  of  the  Catholic 
king  Wv .  touched,  that  his  nrphew  should  have  fonned  a  treaty 
with  America  without  waiting  for  his  advice.  The  inde- 
pendence of  colonies  was  an  example  that  might  divest  his 
crowTi  of  its  possessions  in  both  parts  of  America;  and  he 
di-eaded  the  establishment  of  republicanism  on  the  border  of 
his  transatlantic  provinces,  as  more  surely  fatal  than  all  the 
power  of  Great  Britain. 

The  king  of  France,  while  he  declared  his  wish  to  make  no 
conquest  whatever  in  the  Avar,  vainly  held  out  to  the  king  of 
Spain,  with  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  the  acquisition 
of  Florida ;  but  that  province  had  not  power  to  allure  Chai-les 
III.  or  his  ministry,  which  was  a  truly  SpanisL  ininistry  and 
washed  to  pursue  a  truly  Spanish  policy.  There  was  indeed 
one  word  wJiich,  if  pronounced,  would  be  potent  enough  to 
alter  their  decision.  That  word  was  Gibraltar ;  but,  as  it  was 
not  spoken,  the  king  of  Spain  declared  that  he  would  not  enter 
into  the  quarrel  of  France  and  England ;  that  he  wished  to 
close  his  life  in  tranquillity,  and  valued  peace  too  highly  to 
sacrifice  it  to  the  interests  or  opinions  of  another. 

So  the  flags  of  France  and  the  United  States  went  together 
into  the  field  against  Great  Britain,  unsupported  by  any  other 
government.  The  benefit  then  conferred  on  the  United  States 
was  priceless ;  in  return  the  revolution  in  America  brought  to 
France  new  hfe  and  hope. 


t   1:; 


1'i 


1778. 


THE  BRITISH  ABANDON  PENNSYLVANIA. 


261 


CHAPTEli  XTIII. 

THE   BEimil   ABANDON   PMNSYLVANIA. 

May-June  1778. 

TnEnllmcoof  France  with  the  United  States  walccd  in 
th    he  rt  .    Enmpe  the  hope  of  the  overthrow  of  ZZ 
olonial  system  of  eommereial  monopoly.     American  indenen 
ence  was  won  not  by  arms  .alone,  but  m  part  by  th   symna 
tines  of  nentral  princes  and  nations  ^    '^ 

at  lie'  "^Tlfr'  '"'"'S™"'f  «■•«  Evolved  in  contradictions 
at  home.  The  government  of  Enghand,  in  soeking  to  suppress 
'-  dependencies  English  rights  by  English  anns,  m  dT™ 
<m  tl  e  hfc  of  her  own  life.  Inasmuch  as  the  party  ot  freed™ 
and  justice,  which  is  indeed  one  for  all  mankh,d,C  at  S 
seen  to  be  one  and  the  same  for  the  whole  EnglisI  «oet 
appeared  more  and  moro  clearly  that  the  total  s.AifgaZ'o 

ihe  Ssh  *s.'^  "'"  "'^""^^  '»  '"^  -P-'»»  o^  ">-*y  in 
The  country,  which  in  the  seven  years'  war  had  been  im 
polled  by  the  elder  Pitt  to  mighty  deeds,  found  in  ?he  n  ,^1^ 
no  .jopresentative.    Public  spirit  had  been  ,ue  ed  Z  If 
™,al  n,terests  prevailed  over  the  general  good     Eve'n'mpend 
mg  foreign  war  could  not  hush  "the  turbulence  of  parE 

r  or:;yr'thrh:'  'r'"-" "°  ^""'"^  Fincipie,c  •: 

con  rol  of  patronage.     Insubordination  showed  itself  in  the 

fleet  and  m  the  army,  and  most  .among  the  oflicers     En°,.;a 

.ad  not  known  so  bad  a  government  since  the  reign  ofjames 

n  ithe   fTtir    "/°'"t  "'"•  '■''^''^^""^'  -d^ruly  stood 
neither  for  the  people  nor  for  any  br.,nch  of  the  aristocracy 


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2G2    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kimv.  ;  on.  xviii. 

neither  for  tlie  spirit  of  tlie  time,  nor  for  tlie  past  age,  nor  for 
that  whicJi  was  coniing.  It  was  a  congh>inerate  of  inferior 
and  heterogeneous  materials,  totally  uiiiit  to  govern  a  great 
and  free  empire. 

The  period  in  British  history  was  distinguished  in  philoso- 
phy hy  Ilnme  and  Held  and  Price  and  Adam  Smith  ;  in  pant- 
ing l>y  Reynolds ;  in  poetry  and  various  learning  by  Gray  and 
Goldsmith,  Johnson  and  Cowpcr ;  in  legislative  eloquence  by 
Chatham,  Burke,  and  Fox;  in  Listory  by  Gibbon,  as  well  as 
by  Hume  and  liobertson ;  in  the  useful  arts  by  Brindley,  Watt 
and  Arkwright.     That  the  nation,  in  a  state  of  high  Ind  ad- 
vancing culture,  should  have  been  ruled  by  a  sordid  minis- 
try, so  inferior  to  itself  as  that  of  Lord  North,  was  not  due  to 
the  corruption  of  parliament  alone ;  for  there  was  always  in 
the  house  of  connnons  an  indej)endent  fraction.     It  cannot  be 
fully  explained  without  considering  the  chaotic  state  of  politi- 
cal jiarties. 

The  conflict  between  England  and  her  American  colonies 
sprang  necessarily  out  of  the  development  of  British  institu- 
tions.    The  supreme  right  of  parliament  as  the  representative 
of  English  nationality  and  bound  to  resist  and  overthrow  the 
personal  government  of  the  Stuarts,  was  the  watch^vord  of 
the  revolution  of  1G88,  which  had  been  dear  to  America  as 
the  death-blow  to  monarchical  absolutism  throughout  the  Eng- 
lish dominions,  and  as  the  harbinger  of  constitutional  hberty 
for  the  civilized  world.     Parliament  again  asserted  its  para- 
mount authority  over  the  crown,  when  by  its  own  enactment 
it  transferred  the  succession  to  the  house  of  Hanover.     These 
revolutions  were  achieved  tln-ough  a  categorical  principle  that 
would  endure  no  questioning  of  its  i-ightfulness.     Such  a  prin- 
ciple could  not  submit  to  modifications  until  it  had  accom- 
plished its  work ;  and,  as  it  was  embedded  with  the  love  of 
liberty  in  the  mass  of  the  English  nation,  it  had  moved  and 
acted  with  the  strength  and  majesty  of  a  national  conviction. 

In  the  process  of  years  the  assertion  of  the  supreme  power 
of  parliament  assumed  an  exaggerated  form,  and  was  claimed 
to  extend  without  limit  over  Ireland  and  over  the  colonies ; 
BO  that  the  theory  which  had  first  been  used  to  rescue  and 
secure  the  liberties  of  England  became  an  iustrumcnt  of  despo- 


!  < 


1778.  THE   BRITISH   ABANDON   PENNSYLVANIA.  203 

tisra.     Both  branches  of  parliament  were  but  representatives 
of  the  same  favored  dass ;  and  the  kings  awakened  no  counter- 
poisnig  sentiment  of  loyalty  so  long  as  the  house  of  Hanover 
the  creature  of  parliament,  was  represented  by  princes  of  for! 
eign  birth,  ignorant  of  the  laws  and  language  of  the  land. 

In  this  manner  the  goverament  was  conducted  for  a  half 
century  by  the  aristocracy,  wliicli,  keeping  in  memory  the 
days  of  the  commonwealth  and  the  davs  of  James  II  were  led 
mto  the  persuasion  that  the  constitution  was  not  safe  except 
in  the  custody  of  the  aristocracy,  that  the  party  of  liberty  to 
use  the  words  of  Rockingham,  was  that  which  «fon<dit  up 
agamst  the  king  and  against  the  people."  ^ 

But  by  the  side  of  the  theory  of  absolute  power  concen- 
tred m  parliament  which  had  twice  been  the  sheet-anchor  of 
the  English  constitution,  there  existed  the  older  respect  for 
the  rights  of  the  individual  and  the  liberties  of  organized  com- 
munities.    These  two  elements  of  British  political  life  were 
brought  into  collision  by  the  American  revolution,  which  had 
Its  provocation  in  the  theory  of  the  omnipotence  of  parliament 
and  Its  justification  in  the  eyes  of  Englishmen  in  the  principle 
of  vital  liberty  diifused  through  all  the  parts  of  the  common- 
wealth.    The  two  ideas  straggled  for  tlie  ascendency  in  the 
mmd  of  the  British  nation  and  in  its  le<^islature.     Tliey  both 
are  so  embalmed  in  the  undying  elorpienc.  of  Burke  as  to  have 
led  to  the  most  opposite  estimates  of  his  political  character 
iliey  both  aj.pear  in  startling  distinctness  in  the  speeches  and 
conduct  of  Fox,  who  put  all  at  hazard  on  the  omnipotence  of 
parliament,  and  yet  excelled  in  the  clear  statement  and  defence 
of  the  attitude  of  America.     Both  lay  in  irreconeiled  con- 
fusion m  the  politics  of  Eockingham,  whose  administration 
signalized  itself  by  enacting  the  right  of  the  king,  lords,  and 
commons  of  Britain  to  bind  America  in  all  cases  whatsoever 
and  yet  in  practice  humanely  refused  to  enforce  the  pretend 
sion.     The  aristocratic  party  of  liberty,  organized  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  absolute  power  of  parliament  in  order  to  defeat 
etfectiially  and  for  all  time  the  designs  of  the  king  against 
parliamentary  usages  and  rights,  had  done  its  work  and  out- 
hved  Its  usefulness.     In  o])position  to  the  continued  rale  of  an 
aristocracy,  Avith  the  device  of  omnipotence  over  king  and 


!     W. 


ii  .  ^i^i  J  :i 


i     M 


264    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    kp..v.;  en.  xvm. 

people  there  rose  i,p  aroinul  tho  veneral.le  form  of  Clu.tliam 
a  new  hhora  p.^rtv  willin.  to  use  tl.e  prerogative  of  ti.e  h  " 
to  increase  tlie  weight  of  tJie  commons.  ^ 

Tlie  new  party  aimed  at  a  double  modification  of  the  un- 
restricted  sovereignty  of  parliament.  The  elder  P-'tt  ever 
insisted  and  his  fri.nds  continued  to  maintain,  that  the  com- 
mons of  Great  Britain  had  no  right  to  impoJe  taxes  on  un- 
represented  colonies.     This  w.s  the  fet  step  in  the  renovation 

as  then  composed,  did  not  adequately  represent  the  nation 
aud  the_  connection  of   Rockingham  resisted  both  these  car- 
dinal principles  of  reform.     This  unyielding  division  among 
tlie  opponents  of  Lord  Xortli  prolonged  his  Administration.     ^ 
^^^«^^es,  many  men  of  honest  intentions,  neither  wishing 
to  see  English  liberties  impaired,  nor  yet  to  consent  to  tlif 
independence  of  the  colonies,  kept  their  minds  in  a  state  of 
^  pense ;  and  tins  reluctance  to  decide  led  them  to  bear  a 
little  longer  the  ministry  which  alone  professed  ability  to  sup- 
tTtti  "r^-^-^^*^---/-  ^-tter  men  would  not  coLnt  t"^ 

their  policy.  ^  Once,  m  a  moment  of  petulance,  Lord  Geor..t 

Germam  resigned;  and  the  king  wished  to  be  rid  of  him; 

but  he  was  from  necessity  continued  in  his  office,  because  no 

one  else  could  be  found  willing  to  accept  it 

In  the  great  kingdom  on  the  other  side  of  the  channel 

antagonistic  forces  were  likewise  in  action.     As  th.  repr  ! 

cntative  of  popular  power,  France  had  in  reserve  one  great 

advantage  over  England  in  her  numerous  independent  peas- 
antiy     Brought  up  m  ignorance  and  seclusion,  they  knew  not 
how  to  question  anything  that  was  taught  by  the  church  or 
commandecl  by  the  monarch;  but,  however  they  miglit  for 
the  present  suffei-  from  grievous  and  unredressed  oppression, 
they  constituted  he  safeguard  of  order  as  well  as  of  nationality. 
_      In  the  capital  and  among  the  cultivated  classes  of  socioty 
m  coffee-houses  and  saloons,  the  cry  rose  for  reform  or  revolu- 
^on.     The  French  king  was  absolute;  yet  the  teachings  of 
Montesquieu  and  the  example  of  England  raised  in  men  of 
genei-ous  natures  an  uncontrollable  desire  for  free  institu- 
tions ,  while  speculative  fault-finders,  knowing  nothing  of  the 


i778.         THE   BKITISH  ABANDON  PENNSYLVANIA. 


265 


self-restraint  which  is  taught  by  responsibility  in  the  exercise 
of  office,  indulged  in  ideal  anticipations  which  were  colored  by 
an  exiusperating  remembrance  of  griefs  and  wrongs.  France 
was  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Roman  church,  with  a  king 
who  was  a  sincere  though  not  a  bigoted  I^oman  Catholic; 
and  its  philosophers  carried  their  imi)assioncd  war  against  the' 
church  to  the  utmost  verge  oi  skepticism  and  unbeHef,  while 
a  suspicion  that  forms  of  religion  were  used  as  a  mere  instru- 
ment of  government  began  to  arise  in  the  laboring  classes  of 
the  cities. ^  But,  apart  from  all  inferior  influences,  the  power 
of  generalisation,  in  which  the  French  nation  excels  all  others, 
imparts  from  time  to  time  an  idealistic  character  to  its  pol- 
icy. The  Parisians  felt  the  reverses  of  the  Americans  as  if 
they  had  been  their  own;  and,  in  November  1770,  an  ap- 
proaching nipture  with  England  was  the  subject  of  aU  con- 
versations. 

The  American  straggle  was  avowedly  a  war  in  defence  of 
the  common  rights  of  mankind.     The  Prince  de  Montbarey, 
who  owed  his  place  as  minister  of  war  to  the  favor  of  Maure- 
pas  and  female  influence,  and  who  cherished  tlie  prejudices  o:: 
his  order  without  being  aware  of  his  own  mediocrity,  professed 
to  despise  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  fomied  from 
emigrants  for  the  most  part  without  character  and  Avithout 
fortune,  ambitious  and  fanatical,  and  likely  to  attract  to  their 
support  "  all  the  rogues  and  the  worthless  from  the  four  parts 
of  the  globe."     He  had  warned  Lafayette  against  leaving  his 
wife  and  wasting  his  fortune  to  play  the  part  of  Don  Qufxote 
in  their  behalf,  and  had  raised  in  the  council  his  feeble  voice 
against  the  alliance  of  France  with  the  insurgents.     lie  re- 
garded a  victory  over  England  as  of  no  advantage  commen- 
surate with   the  dangerous  example  of  sustaining  a  revolt 
against  established  authority.     Besides,  war  would  accumulate 
disorder  in  the  public  finances,  retard  useful  works  for  the 
happiness  of  France,  and  justify  reprisals  by  Great  Britain  on 
the  colonies  of  the  Bourbon  princes. 

It  was  against  the  interior  sentiment  of  the  king  and  the 
douljts  of  Maurepas,  that  the  lingering  influence  of  the  policy 
of  the  balance  of  power,  the  mercantile  aspirations  of  France, 
Its  spirit  of  philosophic  freedom,  and  its  traditional  autagj 


i 


^  i 


yn 


SCO    AMKUU'A  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FKANCE.    ir.  ,v. ,  r,,.  i„„. 

ni™  to  Rn;;!,,,,,:  „,  t,,o  „u,Mo|,„list  of  .,„,„„urce  and  the  r.l.r 
of  tic,  „c,«,  .,,,«,,  M,o  F,v„..l,  .llia„..o  with  A,nc.,fcu 

. Mist  tlin-fj--,,^,|,t  ^,.,a„  |„,f,„^,  Ala,,,-,.,,!,,  i„  tlm  viVor  ,.f 

C,udm.l      lunry,  l.e  ,™  tl,o„j,l,t  f,  have  had  tho  ,„i„d  "f 
the  wul™t  ralijrc;  a,„l  il  was  nmiictod  of  hi,,,       ,/ 

...;c,^d,,,,ttodof.i:^:^,r;^j;>::'f;tty^r 

wth  A,,,o™a  ,cea,„„  „,.,.e„,,  ,„  .,„,,„[  f,„,„  ,„ „.     '^'^^ 
to^c.8  wi„<.h    1,0  iafoly  ,.c,to,-od  ,«.,.lia,„o„t,  ,„.!,    roL  "I 
r^gmtcr ;  a„d   ,o  |,ladly  accopt,,!  .i,o  ,.,arar,too  of'  NeX    th  ,t 
a  i  war  ox|,c„dit,„.os  could  ho  „,ot  hy  tho  „»„  „f  credit  f,,, 
<™l  o,>erat,u,„,  and  rc-for„„.     It  wal  „„,,  „f,er  tho  ™r 

attomptod  to  son,  ,1,0  „pi„i„„  „f  p,,,,-,  ,„  j;,,.„,  „f  A„,ori<^ 

tho'::f:i:ft:i;:;,r:fhi'T;"^-"«T"-  "---«• 

of  the  „,onarc.h,  who,,,  all  tho  th,™  wc-e  to  ohoy    Nor  di    1  e 

tr  t'i',',t  V"''*^'^' ""  ™''r'  <■""  '^  ^--1-  -  i''- 1- 

nor,  so  that  he  never  excited  a  jealonsy  of  rivilshin     TT.  1  .  i 
-  pa,.ulice  about  calling  repilics  into  1   in^^      he  ,     " 

^ZZ\:T'  ^':.^r''^^'  ^l-velfareof  F;aL^:e    . 
to  recline  it ;  ho  contninecl  to  believe  that  from  the  fainilv  alii 

Tin';;;:  ^^-^^^^'^/-"-^  ^-"-  ^^to  the ...  with  e;^^:" 

Bmr  on  tof7"      \  "^*"'"'^  ''  '''''  ^'''-^^^  ^^'  the  hoiise  o 

A^ri        /'''''^'"''  "^'^"  *^^^^"^"  ^*'  *^'^  ^^"'^^^l  States. 
friend  tH        '"^  ''''"!';''  "^'^^^'''^^^'^  ^'^^  Primarily  a  hearty 
t  lend  to  the  new  republic:  Xecker  favored  neutrality  and 
1  ough  he  was  a  Swiss  by  birth,  his  liberalism  did  lu  t  ^'o  be 
jond  admiration  of  the  British  constitution  of  th-t  di 


1778.  THE  BlilTISII   ABANDON  PENNSYLVANIA.  2G7 

The  statesmen  of  the  nation  had  not  yet  deducr  1  from  ex- 
perience and  the  intuitions  of  reason  a  system  of  civil  liherty 
to  supersede  woni-out  traditional  forms;  and,  just  before  the 
alliance  between  France  and  the  United  States,  the  lighter  lit- 
erature  of  the  hour,  skeptical  rather  than  hopeful,  mocked  at 
the  contradiction  between  institutions  and  rights,  and  asked  if 
while  the  mutinous  Americans,  "without  kings  and  without 
queens,  bearded  the  whole  wor'  ^  and  were  free,"  Europe  should 
still  be  crushed  by  inexorable  tyranny.  Mirabeau  wrote  a  lierv 
nivective  against  despotism  from  a  prison  of  which  his  pas- 
sionate prayer  for  leave  to  serve  in  America  could  not  open 
the  doors.  ^ 

Until  chastened  by  affliction,  Marie  Antoinette  WL-ited  ear- 
nestness of  character,  and  suffered  herself  to  be  swayed  by 
generous  caprices,  or  family  tics,  or  the  selfish  solicitations  of 
her  female  companions.    She  had  an  ascendency  over  the  king 
and  could  not  always  conceal  her  contempt  for  his  under- 
standing, but  never  aspired  to  control  his  foreign  policy  ex- 
cept in  relation   to  Austria.     It  was  only  in  the  pursuit  of 
benefits  for  her  friends  that  she  would  suffer  no  denial.     She 
did  not  spare  words  of  petulance  to  a  minister  who  dared  to 
thwart  her  requests;  and  Necker  retained  her  favor  by  never 
refusing  them.     Her  enthusiasm  for  the  new  republic   was 
only  superficial  and  occasional,  and  could  form  no  support  for 
a  steady  conduct    "         -  :r. 

The  king  fe'  .-        ^  raericans  neither  as  insurgents 

against  wrongs  nc  ermng  people ;  and  never  un- 

derstood how  it  ca  contrary  to  his  own  faith  in 

rxiouarchieal  power  ..  ,\atholic  church,  his  kingdom 

had  plunged  into  a  war  to  mtroduce  among  tne  potentates  of 
the  civilized  worid  a  revolutionary  Protestant  republic. 

France  was  rich  in  resources ;  but  its  finances  had  not  re- 
covered from  their  exhaustion  in  the  seven  years'  war.  Their 
restoration  became  hopeless,  when  Necker  promised  to  employ 
the  fame  of  his  severer  administration  ruly  to  increase  the 
pubhc  debt,  which  was  already  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  The 
king  of  Prussia,  whose  poverty  made  him  a  sharp  observer 
ot  the  revenues  of  wealthier  powers,  repeatedly  foretold  the 
bankruptcy  of  France  if  its  king  should  break  the  peace. 

VOL.  V. — 19  ^ 


i  '.■! 


:*| 


t: 


1, 


•l 


lit 

iii 


s 


m 


if  f 


I  >'  ''I 


i!  n 


2(58    AMKP.rCA  IN  ALMANCI'  WITH  VLANCK.     k.mv.;  (-„.  xvim. 

All  fills  whilo  Paris  wim  tlic  cnntro  of  <lu'  ^riy  soclofy  ari(? 
iiitolii^'cnco  of  liiirop..'.     T\w  l.cst  nrtists  of.ih.j  diiy  and  tlio 
iiiukUth  of  tlu!  riviil  schools  of  music  crowded  rouii<l  tl...  (.•oint. 
The  Hplciujor  of  the  Hourhou   inoimrchy  was  kept  up  at  tlm 
Tiiilcri.-s  and  Ycrsj.illoH  wifh  i.ro(h>d  "iua^niiticcncc,  and  .'n. 
vciitioii  was  cvcrdcvisi!i.i,Miewrc!i:uMH'iitsin  social  cnjoyincut. 
The  <|ii(rii  was  happy  in  the  daz/liii;,^  scenes  of  which  she  was 
thc!  life;  the  kin^r,  -i  y,„m^r  ,„;,„  ,,f  four-and-twenty,  whom 
his  Austrian  hroihcr-in-l.-iw  f'.escrihod  as  ii  child,  was  pleased 
with  the  ahsohito  power  which  lie  held  it  his  ri^dit  to  exercise. 
To  France,  the  years  which  follow(vl  are  ainon-;  tiie  most  glo- 
rions  in  her  history,  for  they  were  thos-  in  which  she  i)rc- 
l)ared  the  way  foi-  the  overthrow  of  feudidisni  and  her  own 
regcjieratioji  ;  hut  Louib  XVI.  and  Marie;  .  ntoinctte,  when 
tiny  embarked  for  the  liheration  of  America,  .pleasure  on  the 
prow  and  the  uncertain  hand  of  youth  at  tli'o  helm,  might 
have  cried  out  to  the  new  repni.lic  which  they  fostered:  "Mo- 
rituri  to  salutant,"  "The  doomed  to  die  salute  thee." 

The  rescript  of  France,  which  announced  to  the  British 
luiuistry   her    acknowledgment    of    Americ^-i    indi'pendencc, 
assiimed  as  a  principle  of  jiuhlic  law  that  a  nationality  may,' 
by  its  own  declaration,  speak  itself  inio  heing.     The  ad  sys- 
tems of   the  two  govermnents  were   reversed.     The  IJrit'ish 
monarchy  ])ut  forth  its  strength  in  behalf  of  unjuat  authority. 
M-hile  France  became  the  foster-mother  of  r(>publicanism.     In 
one  resi)ect  France  was  more  suited  than  Britain  to  lead  the 
l>e()i)les  of  Europe  in  the  road  to  freedom.     On  the  release  of 
lier  rural  pojudatiou  from  serfdom,  a  largo  part  of  them  re- 
t  "ned  their  rights  to  the  soil ;  and,  though  bowed  down  under 
gi-ievous  burdens  and  evil  laws,  tluy  had  a  home  and  acres 
from  which  they  could  not  be  evicted.     In  Knglaiul  ai,  I  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  "the  property  by  feudal  law  was  strictly  in 
the  tenant,"  but  the  feudal  chiefs  had  taken  to  themselves  in 
absolute  ownership  nearly  all  the  grouiul. 

On  the  fourth  of  ^lay  the  treaties  of  commerce  and  alli- 
ance with  Louis  XVI.  were  unanimously  ratilied  by  congress, 
with  grateful  aekuowlcdgments  of  his  magnanimous  and  disin- 
terested comluct,  and  the  "  wish  that  the  friendship  so  happily 
commenced  between  France  and  the  Ignited  States  mi-ht  be 


•III 

if  ? 


1778. 


Tir:  numsii  aiuni.on  p/n.^^lvania. 


2ti9 

cans  had  been  u.volvecl  only  fn.,u  their  dependence  onZ- 
land  were  elhu.^d  forever ;  IVenehmen  hecluo  theh- friends 
|.'Kl  Ue  kn.,,  ot  France  w.s  prochuu.ed  '  tho  protector  of    'e 
ngnt8  oi  mankind."  "i  wx  i    » 

_  Lafayette  nniiled  as,  in  A7a,shinc.ton'.s  camp,  he  read  that 
h.s  ,'over,nnent  dated  the  indepen<!ence  of  An-crioa  1 1  he 
.no.nent  of  U.  own  declaration,  und  naid  prophetically :  ^'vZt 
|a  hea  a  pnnc, -,!«  of  national  soverei.nty\vhich  i.e  day  'wll 
he  recalled  to  ti.enx  at  home."     On  the  sixth  the  allianf.  wa^^ 

celebrated  at  Valley  h\.r<ro       Yfter  -i  s.lnh.  ..V  fl  •  ,^''  ^'^ 
.1  .      J.     "^  „     "       -iitti  d  bamte  ol  thirteen  cannon 

nd  a  nnuung  in-e  of  all  the  nu.sketry,  the  anny,  drawn  up  in 
two  hnes  shouted:  "Long  live  the  king  of  Francis  C 
u«ani:  ';  Long  live  the  friendly  Europe.r powers  1"  and  the 
ceren.on.es  w<.re  closed  by  a  i.u.za  for  the  American  .tatl 

In  an  address  to  the  inhabit ..,.  oi  the  United  States  eon- 
,.-ess  assumed  that  independe,  -.  was  secured;  ar.d  ^iey  pro- 

Mdt  Its  want  of  a  goven.ment  Tliey  rightly  represented  its 
lerntory  as  a  continental  one  and  most  Mesfed  in  its  Ihnate 
-Hi  P-d>..txons ;  they  owned  its  financial  end.arrasslntbe 

1 '  u         '"'"*7!'""  ^"^  "  ^^-'"fe-  i«'-tl^  their  armies  into  the 
hUd     ulu  e  men  of  leisure  were  encouraged  to  collect  moneys 

Z^:J:^VT-     ^"-^--^-'^"WtheypromiSd 
tl  e  s^    e.s  of  a  free  commerce  with  every  part  of  the  earth." 

On  the  cMghteenth  of  May  a  festival  was  given  to  General 
irowe  l,y  tlurty  of  his  officers,  most  of  them^K.nbers  of  lis 

abo  ^  the  town  and,  to  the  nmsie  of  one  hundred  and  eight 

Mutboys,  rowed  two  miles  down  the  stream  in  galleys  and 

oats  g  ttenng  with  colors  and  streamers.     They  p  Jd  Zo 

n<lred  transport  vessels  tricked  out  in  bravery  and  crowded 

uh  lookers-on;  and,  landing  to  the  tune  of  "God  save  the 

^vnio     under  salutes  from  two  decorated  ships-of-war,  rhey 

^  andauls  of  the  army  to  a  lawn,  where,  in  p  ,  sencc  of  tht> 
chosen  ladies  raised  on  thrones,  officers,  fantastically  dressed  as 
J-»^iits  and  s,purcs,  engaged  in  a  tournament.     After  this 


i'    >,':    *! 


ic  »■ 


i    )i 


y7()    AMKIMCA   IN    AI.MANCi;  Wnil   KUANCK.     la-.  iv. ;  on,  xviii. 


hv,f 


!  i 


(liity  |)n>c('t'(li'(l  tiiitlt'i- nil  oniiiiiii-iitcd  :\ic\\  lo  n  s|)l(>!i<li(lly  fnr- 
iiiniit'(l  lioiisr,  wlirrc  <liiii<'iii^-  IxM^aii ;  iiiiil  ii.  f.';iiiiiiii<.i;  tiiltlo  wiiH 
opt'iuMl  willi  !i  hiiiik  (>!'  I  wo  tlioiisiiiiil  ^iiiiwas.  'I'lui  tickets  of 
!i(liiiiMsioii  (|t'Hcril»(>(|  IIk"  i^^ih'mI  (if  I  lie  iii^lil  nri  (ho  hum,  ^oiu^ 
down  ill  hrij^liliH'ss  (o  rirtc  in  ^ii-iicr  .d,,iy  ;  dikI  llnnvorkH  in 
<I;i/,zliii;;-  Icdci's  [troiiiisi'd  liini  imiiioil;i!  iniiicls.  At  iiiidiii^ht 
ti  nii|>|M'i-  of  four  iiiindi't'd  niid  tliirl y  covers  wan  si>rved  under 
tlie  Iii:;lil  t»f  twelve  liuiidred  Wiix  candles,  jind  was  enlivened  l>y 
an  «>icliestra  of  more  tliaii  one  hundred  inslriiinents.  Daiiciiip; 
eonliiiiied  til!  (he  sun  was  more  tiiaii  an  hour  iii^h,  Ntiver 
liad  Hiihordinales  •.';iven  a  more  Itrilhaiil  larewell  to  a  depart- 
ing; genera!;  and  it  was  douhlv  «K'ar  l<i  their  commanih'r,  for 
it  expressed  their  belief  that  (he  ministrv  liad  wronjjji'd  him, 
and  (ha(   Iiis  merit   pointed   him  (>ut  for  advancement. 

The  lestival  was  hanllv  over  wlieii  ili>w(>  was  informed 
that  l,afave((e,  witli  tweiitv-livt^  hundred  men  and  ei<j;ht  ciin- 
rion,  Iiad  crossed  (he  Schii\lkill  and,  (weKc  miles  from  \' alley 
l'\ir<i,(>,  had  taken  a  post  of  ohservation  on  (he  raiij;(>  of  IJarren 
Hill.  Flushed  wi(h  the  hope  of  iMidin^'  his  .\nu'rican  career 
with  lustre,  lu>  resol\t«d  l»v  a  swift  inovtMiient  to  capture  tlu! 
part  v.  At  ten  on  the  nineti-enth  lu>  siMit  (Jrant,at  the  head  of 
tiftv  three  liimdred  chosen  men,  wi(li  (he  best  <;-uides,  lo  ^ain 
hv  roniidaluiut  wavs  the  rear  of  l.afavett -,  Tlu^v  were  fol- 
lowed the  m>xt  mornini'-  h\  ti  ft  \  seven  hundred  select(>(l  troops, 
mmanded  hv  Howe  himself,  assisted   hv  (Minton  and  Knvp- 


i'O 


ISCO 


llltltl 


iri>  o 


f  the 


hausen  with  Lord  Howe  to  witiu'ss  lh(>  d 
youthful  pMieral,  whom  he  was  to  ship  to  Miinhud.  At  Chest- 
nut Hill  ilu>v  wtM«>  to  ri>ceive  the  .\nu'rican  party  as  prlsoneiv ; 
but  ihev  listiMU'd  in  vain  for  the  sound  o(  cannon,  and  at  noon 
(irant  caiiu'  in  sio-ht  with  only  his  own  detai'huu<nt.  Lafayette 
had  been  surprised,  ami  his  direct  conmiimieation  with  Valley 
Korijje  cut  oil";  but  a  lower  fiUtI  I'alled  Matsou's,  which  was 
nearer  to  (Jrant  than  io  him,  remaiiu'd  uiKu'cupii-d.  Si'iulin>:; 
small  parties  into  (he  wood-,  \o  pi-t-seiit  thi-nisi>lvi>s  as  tlu"  hi'ads 
of  attackiuii"  colunuis,  lu-  (Kn-eivid  his  antaironist  and  crossed 
the  ford  while  (Jr.mt  was  pn>pariiiii-  to  ^ive  battle. 

Howe,  veturninii- crest  tallen  to  the  citv,  on  the  twenty  iourtli 
pive  up  to  Sir  Henrv  (1In(on  (he  cimimand  of  ti 


le  armv. 


Dtli 


;ei-s  who  attended   him  to  the  place  of  embarkutiou  shed  tcun 


177H.  TlIK    liitlTlSlI    ABANDON    IMCNNMYIA'ANIA.  271 

lit  tlio  pjirtin;;;  mid   KnypluiiiHcti,   frorti  (I(;(!|)  emotion,  could 
ii(»t  liiiiHli  the  iiddrosH  wliicli,  in  their  niinic,  lie  In-^iin  to  read. 

ilnive  an<l  :in  iidcpt  in  military  wience,  IIowo  'uid  failed  in 
the  conductt  o)'  (he  uiir  IVom  want  of  eanieHt  entc^rpriHe.  On 
landin^r  ,„-ai-  Hunker  Iliil,  he  had  Hillicient  troops  to  have 
turned  ihv.  position  of  tlie  AmerieanH;  hut  ho  (h'hiyed  jUHt 
ion^r  ,.nou<,di  for  them  to  prepare  for  \m  attack.  He  was  driven 
out  of  Hoston  from  hin  neglect,  to  o(;cupy  I)oreheHt(!r  Jlei^ditH, 
wiiicli  overlooii  the  (own.  He  took  hiH  troojw  in  midwinter  to 
the  l)ica,k,  nMnote,  an<l  then  wareely  inhahited  Halifax,  innujad 
of  Hailing' to  Honi(!  convenient  nook  on  Lonjr  JMland  within  the 
Kound,  wluu-e  he  would  have;  found  a  milder  climatc!,  ^^reatur 
rw.source.s,  and  nearncHH  to  the  s(H'ne  of  his  tiext  camj)ai<'-ti. 

lie  passed  thc!  winter  in  Philadelphia  without  atte^nptin^r 
to  hreak  up  the  American  camp  at  N'alh^y  l'"or<re.  The  manner 
in  which  he  threw  up  his  coimnand  was  a  diiliance  of  his  gov- 
enunent  and  an  ojKin  intimation  to  I<:urope  and  to  America 
that  the  attempt  of  !';n«ijland  to  reduce  its  colonies  would  fail. 
Nolhinj,^  saved  him  from  reprohation  hut  that  Lonl  (ieorgo 
(Jermain  had  made  nustakes  still  ^r.wer  than  his  own. 

Meantinu%  Lord  Howe  and  Sir  Henry  (M  in  ton,  each  acting 
under  special  instructions,  separately  communicated  the  threo 
conciliatory  acts  of  pai-liament  to  congress,  who  received  them 
on  tho  sixth  of  dune,  and  on  tlio  same  <lay  answered:  "They 
have  in  April  last  expressed  their  Bentiments  upon  hills  not 
essi'idially  dilVerent.  When  the  king  of  (}reat  IJritain  shall 
he  seriously  disposed  to  end  the  uni)rovok<!d  war  waged  against 
these  United  States,  they  will  readily  attend  to  such  terms  of 
peace  as  may  consist  with  the  honor  of  inde|)en(lent  nations 
and  the  sacred  regard  they  moan  to  pay  to  treaties." 

On  the  <lay  of  this  second  rejection  of  Lord  North's  offers 
(he  three  liritish  commissioners  arrived  in  Philadoli)hia.  In 
sailing  up  the  Delaware  they  had  seen  enough  "  to  regret  ton 
thousand  times  that  their  rulers,  instead  of  a  tour  through  tho 
worn-out  coujitries  of  Europe,  had  not  liuishod  their  education 
with  a  visit  round  tho  coiusts  and  rivers  of  this  heautiful  and 
houndless  continent."  The  English  rivers  shrunk  for  them 
into  rills;  they  predicted  that  in  a  few  years  Philadelphia 
would  become  a  niagnilieent  nietro])olis.     Their  mission  was  a 


■4    ! 


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272    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRAXCE.     '.p.  iv. ;  en.  xvni. 

mere  device  to  aid  Lord  North  in  governing  the  liouse  of  com- 
mons, and  to  "reconcile  the  people  of  England  to  a  continu- 
ance of  the  war."  Carlisle,  the  first  commissioner,  had  in  the 
house  of  lords  "spoken  with  wannth  upon  the  insolence  of  the 
rebels"  in  refusing  to  treat  mth  the  Howes,  and  stigmatized 
them  as  «  base  and  unnatural  children  "  of  England.  The  sec- 
ond commissioner  was  an  under-secretary,  whose  chief,  in  the 
same  assembly,  had  scoffed  at  Congress  as  a  "  body  of  vagrants  " 
The  third  was  Johnstone,  who  had  lately  in  parliament  justi- 
hed  the  Americans  and  charged  the  king  with  hypocnsy. 

In  the  certainty  that  the  commission  would  not  be  received 
Clmton  was  instnicted  to  abandon  Philadelphia;  to  hold  I^ew 
lork  and  Khode  Island;  to  curtail  the  boundaries  of  the  thir- 
teen states  on  the  north-east  and  on  the  south ;  to  lav  waste  Vir- 
gmia  by  means  of  ships-of-war ;  and  to  attack  Providence,  Bos- 
ton, and  all  accessible  ports  between  New  York  and  Nova  Sco- 
tia, destroying  vessels,  wharfs,  stores,  and  materials  for  ship- 
building;  the  Indians,  from  Detroit  to  Florida,  wore  to  be 
hounded  on  to  S]^read  dismay  and  death  all  along  the  frontiers 
No  active  operations  at  the  North  were  expected.     The  king 
under  his  sign  manual,  ordered  Clinton  to  detach  five  thousand 
men  for  the  conquest  of  the  French  island,  St.  Lucia. 

As  the  commissioners  stepped  on  shore  they  found,  to  their 
extreme  surprise  and  chagrin,  that  orders  for  the  immediate 
evacuation  oi  Philadelphia  had  preceded  them.     "  If  Philadcl 
phia  is  left  to  the  rebels,"  it  was  said,  "independence  is  ac- 
knowledged and  America  lost."     About  three  thousand  of  the 
inhabitants  were  embarking  in  Bi-itish  ships.    Those  who  re- 
solved  to  stay  roused  from  a  delusive  confidence  in  British  pro- 
tection to  restless  anxiety.     lu  this  strait,  the  representatives 
ot  Jjritain,  in  a  communication  to  congress  sealed  with  the 
image  of  a  fond  mother  caressing  lier  children,  recognised  the 
constituency  of  congress  as  "  states,"  and  pressed  them  to  acce,.t 
perfect  freedom  of  legislation  and  of  internal  government  i^- 
resentation  in  parliament,  and  an  exemption  from  the  presence 
of  military  forc(.s,  except  with  their  own  permission;  in  short, 
the  gratification  of  "every  wish  that  America  had  expressed." 
And  they  insinuated  that  France  was  the  common  enemy. 
Ihese  offers  were  made  without  authority,  and  wore  therefore 


1778.  THE   BRITISH   ABANDON  PENNSYLVANIA.  273 

fraudulent ;  and,  before  an  answer  could  be  received,  tbey  had 
sailed  down  the  Delaware. 

Congress  resented  tbe  letter  of  the  commissioners  as  an 
offence  to  their  own  honor  and  to  their  ally.  Their  wars  with 
France  had  been  but  a  consequence  of  their  connection  with 
England ;  independence  was  peace,  and,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
they  on  the  seventeenth  made  answer  as  before :  "  The  idea  of 
dependence  is  inadmissible.  Corn-ess  will  be  ready  to  enter 
upon  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce  when  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  shall  demonstrate  a  sincere  disposition  for  that  puqjose 
by  an  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  these 
states,  or  withdrawing  his  fleets  and  armies."  The  American 
officers  were  of  the  same  mind,  except  Lee  who  was  false,  and 
Gates,  vv'ho,  in  the  belief  that  everything  contended  for  was 
granted,  wished  a  conference  with  the  commissioners.  To 
Johnstone  Washington  wrote :  "  The  voice  of  congress  is  the 
Voice  of  the  people." 

The  convention  of  Saratoga  had  been  broken  by  the  Brit- 
ish, at  the  time  of  the  surrender,  by  the  concealment  of  pub- 
lic property.  In  November  1777,  Biirgoyne  had  made  a  for- 
mal but  groundless  complaint  of  its  violation  by  the  Amcri- 
cansj  and  raised  the  implication  that  the  pretended  breach  might 
be  used  to  disengage  himself  and  his  government  from  all  the 
obligations  which  it  imposed.  Moreover,  congress  had  made  a 
demand  for  lists  of  all  persons  comprehended  in  the  surrender, 
and  a  compliance  with  this  proper  and  even  necessary  requisi- 
tion had  been  refused.  In  January  1778,  congress  suspended 
the  embarkation  of  the  army  until  the  convention  should  be 
confirmed  by  the  highest  authority  of  Groat  Britain.  Refus- 
ing the  intervention  of  the  British  commissioners,  from  their 
want  of  power,  congress,  on  tlie  fourth  of  September,  without 
a  dissentient  voice,  confirmed  their  resolution. 

^  On  the  night  follo\viug  the  seventeenth  of  June,  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  crossed  the  Delaware  with  more  than  seventeen  thou- 
sand effective  men.  The  loyalists  saw  in  the  retreat  a  violation 
of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  British  king.  The  wmter's  revehy 
was  over ;  honors  and  oilices  turned  suddenly  to  bitterness  and 
ashes ;  papers  of  protection  became  only  an  opprobrium  and  a 
peril.     Crowds  of  wretched  refugees,  with  all  of  their  possea- 


'  I'f 


!  m\ 


3    'f 


>.i  All 


u, 


Mr 


274    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  ly. ;  oh.  xvm. 

sions  whicli  they  could  transDort,  fled  with  the  army  The 
sky  sparkled  with  .stars;  the  air  of  the  Gummcr  night  'was  soft 
and  tranquil,  as  the  exiles,  broken  in  fortune  and  without  a 
career,  went  in  despair  fron?  the  only  city  they  could  love. 

While  the  American  army  was  pining  from  the  delincpiency 
of  the  states  to  meet  the  requisitions  of  Congress,  Lee,  thek 
second  in  command,  was  treacherously  plotting  its  ruin.     His 
loud  fault-linding  was  i-ebuked  by  the  general  for  its  «  very 
mischievous "  tendency.     To  secure  to  the  British  a  retreat 
"  on  velvet,"  Lee  asserted  that  they  would  move  to  the  south 
In  a  council  on  the  seventeenth,  he  gave  as  his  advice  that  it 
would  not  be  safe  to  attack  the  British,  and  carried  with  him 
all  the  officers  except  Greene,  Lafayette,   Wayne,  and  Cad- 
walader.     Unmoved  by  the  apathy  of  so  many,  Washington 
crossed  the  Delaware  sixteen  miles  above  Trenton,  and    de- 
taching Maxwell's  brigade  of  nine  hundred  to  assist  a  party  of 
a  thousand  Jersey  militia  in  destroying  the  roads,  and  Morgan 
with  a  corps  of  six  hundred  to  hang  upon  the  enemy's  right 
he  moved  with  the  main  army  to  Hopewell.     There,  on  the 
twenty-fourth,  Lee   insisted  in    council    that  the  Americans 
should  rather  build  a  bridge  for  the  retreat  of  their  enemies 
than  attack  so  well-disciplined  an  army.      Lafayette  replied 
that  It  would  he  shameful  to  suffer  the  British  to  cross  ^ew 
Jersey  with  impunity ;  that,  without  extreme  risk,  it  was  possi- 
ble to  engage  their  rear  and  take  advantage  of  any  favorable 
opportunity ;  still  Lord  Stiriing  and  most  of  the  brigadiers 
again  sided  with  Lee. 

From  AUentoAvn  the  British  general,  fearing  danger  in 
crossing  the  Raritan,  decided  to  march  by  way  of  Monmouth 
to  Sandy  Hook ;  and  Washington  followed  him  in  a  parallel 
line,  ready  to  strike  his  force  at  right  angles.     The  parties  in 
advance,  increased  by  Scott  with  fourteen  himdred  and  forty 
men,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  by  Wayne  with  a  thousand  more, 
composed  a  third  of  the  army,  and  formed  a  fit  command  for 
the  oldest  major-general.     But  Lee  refused  it,  saying  that  the 
plan  must  surely  fail.     Upon  this  Washington  intrusted  it  to 
Latayette,  who  marched  toward  the  enemy  with  alacrity.     Lee 
now  fretted  at  the  wrong  which  he  pretended  was  done  to  him- 
self and  to  Lord  StirKng.     As  Washington  heard  him  un- 


1778.  TOE   BRITISH  ABANDON   PENNSYLVANIA. 


275 


moved,  he  wrote  to  Lafayette :  "  My  fortune  and  my  honor 
are  in  your  hands ;  you  are  too  generous  to  ruin  the  one  or 
the  other."     And  this  appeal  succeeded. 

On  the  twenty-sixth,  Lee  was  sent  forward  with  two  bri- 
gades to  command  the  advance  party,  with  orders  to  attack  the 
enemy's  rear.  Intense  heat  and  heavy  rains  Iield  both  armies 
quiet  on  the  twenty-seventh;  but,  just  after  noon  on  that  day, 
Washington,  summoning  the  generals  to  head-quarters,  in- 
structed them  to  engage  the  enemy  on  the  next  morning;  and 
he  directed  Lee  to  concert  with  his  officers  the  mode  of  attack. 
But,  when  Lafayette,  Wayne,  and  Maxwell  at  the  appointed 
hour  came  to  Lee,  he  refused  to  form  a  plan,  so  that  none  was 
made ;  nor  did  he  attempt  to  gain  knowledge  of  the  ground 
on  which  he  was  ordered  to  light.  In  the  evening  he  was 
charged  by  Washington  to  detach  a  party  of  six  or  eight  hun- 
dred skirmishers,  to  lie  very  near  the  enemy,  and  delay  them, 
if  they  should  move  off  at  night  or  early  in  the  morning.  The 
order  was  executed  too  tardily  to  have  effect. 

Informed  at  five  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth,  that 
tiie  British  had  begun  their  march  from  Monmoutli,  Lee  re- 
mained inert,  till  Washington,  who  was  the  first  to  be  in  motion, 
sent  him  orders  to  attack  the  British  rear,  unless  there  should 
be  very  powerful  reasons  to  the  contrary,  promising  to  come 
up  rapidly  to  his  support.  He  obeyed  so  far  as  to  move  lan- 
guidly, but  without  a  plan  or  any  concert  with  his  generals. 
To  a  proposal  of  Lafayette,  Lee  answered :  "  You  don't  know 
the  British  soldiers:  we  cannot  stand  against  them."  Upon 
this,  Lafayette  sent  to  Washington  that  his  presence  on  the 
field  was  needed ;  and  twice  were  similar  messages  sent  by 
Laurens.  Having  orders  to  attack  the  enemy's  left,  Lafayette 
received  counter  orders  before  he  had  proceeded  one  quarter 
of  the  way.  Wayne  was  on  the  point  of  engaging  the  enemy 
in  earnest,  when  he  was  enjoined  only  to  make  a  feint.  There 
was  marching  and  counter-marching,  crossing  and  recrossing 
a  bridge,  and  a  halt  for  an  hour.  To  a  French  officer  who  ex- 
pressed surprise,  Lee  said :  "  I  have  orders  from  congress  and 
the  commander-in-chief  not  to  engage ; "  yet,  to  appear  to  do 
something,  he  professed  as  his  object  to  cut  off  a  small  cover- 
ing party. 


i||4j 


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41 


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II         I 


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iii  II 


276    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANCE.    ep.  ly. ;  on.  xvin. 

Thus  Sir  Henry  Clinton  gained  time  for  preparation.     His 
baggage,  wliieli  occupied  a  line  of  eight  miles  or  more,  was 
sent  onward,  protected  by  a  strong  force  under  Knypiiausen 
The  division  of  Cornwallis  and  a  brigade  and  a  regiment  of 
dragoons  from  Knyphausen's  division  remained  behind.     At 
about  eight  in  the  morning  Chnton  sent  against  Leo  two  regi- 
ments of  cavalry,  with  the  grenadiers,  guards,  and  Ilighlandem 
and    the  tlower  of  the  American  infantry  was  vann  uished  by 
their  obedience  to  the  commands  of  a  leader  who  meditated 
their  disgrace."  *     As  the  enemy  followed  the   Americans 
t  irough  a  narrow  defile,  no  order  was  sent  l)y  Leo  to  any  of 
the  parties  to  rally,  and  no  ^^•ord  of  all  that  happened  ofliciallv 
communicated  to  the  commander-in-chief. 

When  Washington  encountered  the  fugitives,  he,  in  a  voice 
of  just  anger,  demanded  of  Lee:  "What  is  the  meaning  of 
this .       Abashed  and  confused,  Lee  stammered :  "  Sir— s?r  • " 
and  to  the  renewed  inquiry  answered :  "You  know  that  the 
attack  was  contrary  to  my  advice  and  opinion."     Washington 
rejo.ned:  "You  should  not  have  undertaken  the  cominand 
unless  you  intended  to  carry  it  through,"  and  at  once  arrested 
the  retreat    As  the  narrow  road,  through      lich  the  best  troops 
of  the  Lritish  army,  led  by  Clinton  and  Cornwallis  and  num- 
bering from  SIX  to  eight  thousand,  were  now  hotly  chas'ng  an 
unresisting  enemy,  was  bounded  on  each  side  l)y  a  morass;  he 
swiftly  formed  two  of  the  retreating  regiments  of  Wayne's 
brigade,  commanded  by  Stewart  and  Ramsay,  in  front  of  the 
pursuers  and  under  their  lire  ;  and  thus  gained  time  to  plam  the 
troops  that  were  advancing  with  him  upon  good  ground.    This 
being  done,  he  again  met  Leo,  who  was  doing  nothing,  "  like  one 
m_  a  private  capacity ; "  and,  finding  in  him  no  disposition  to  re- 
neve  his  character,  ordered  him  to  the  rear.     Even  Laurens 
hoped  for  no  more  than  an  orderly  retreat ;  and  Hamilton's 
thought  was  to  die  on  the  spot.    But  Washington's  self-i)osses- 
sion  his  inspiring  mien,  his  exposure  of  himself  to  every  danger, 
ami  the  obvious  wisdom  of  his  orders,  kindled  the  enthusiasm  of 
othcers  and  men ;  while  Lee  in  the  rear,  sitting  idly  on  horse- 
back, explained  to  bystanders  that  "the  atte.npt  was  madness 
and  could  not  ],e  successful."     The  British  cavalry  were  easily 

*  Uaiiiiltoii'ti  Works,  ii.,  485. 


1778.  THE  BRITISH  ABANDON  PENNSYLVANIA.  277 

driven  back  and  sliowcd  themselves  no  more.  The  regiments 
of  foot  came  up  next;  hut  they  could  not  turn  the  left  Hank, 
where  Stirling  commanded,  without  exposing  their  o\vn  ri-dit 
to  the  American  artillery.  The  attack  upon  the  riglit,  where 
Greene  commanded,  was  defeated  by  his  battery.  Others  en- 
countered the  grenadiers  and  guards  till  they  turned  and  fled ; 
and  when  they  rallied  and  came  back  to  the  charge,  Wajme 
with  a  body  of  infantry  engaged  them  face  to  face  till  they 
were  again  repulsed,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Monckton  falling  at 
their  head.  During  the  day  the  heat  readied  ninety-six^de- 
grees  in  the  shade ;  and  many  on  both  sides,  struck  by  the 
sun,  fell  dead  without  a  wound. 

The  British  retired  through  the  pass  by  which  they  had 
advanced,  and  occupied  a  position  accessible  in  front  only  by 
the  narrow  road,  and  protected  on  both  flanks  by  woods  and 
morasses  which  could  not  bo  turned  before  night.  Two  Ameri- 
can brigades  hung  on  their  right,  a  third  on  their  left,  while 
the  rest  of  the  army  planted  their  standards  on  tiie  field  of  bat- 
tle, and  lay  on  their  arms  to  renew  the  contest  at  daybreak. 
But  Clinton,  abandoning  his  severely  wounded  and  leavino-  his 
dead  unburied,  before  midnight  \\iMidrew  his  forces,  whidi  at 
the  eariy  dawn  found  shelter  in  the  highlands  of  ^iliddleburg, 
Washington  then  marched  toward  the  N'orth  river ;  the  Brit^ 
ish  for  Xew  York  by  way  of  Sandy  Hook. 

On  receiving  the  English  accounts,  Frederic  of  Prussia 
replied :  "  Clinton  gained  no  advantage  except  to  reach  New 
York  with  the  wreck  of  his  army ;  America  is  probably  lost 
for  England."  *^ 

Of  the  Americans  who  were  in  the  engagement,  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-nine  Avcre  killed  or  wounded.  Of  the  British, 
more  than  f.)ui-  hundred ;  and  above  eight  hundred  deserted 
their  standard  during  the  marcli  through  the  Jerseys. 

In  the  battle,  which  took  its  name  from  the  adjacent  village 
of  Monmouth,  the  American  generals  except  Lee  did  well ; 
Wayne  especially  established  his  fame.  The  army  and  the 
whole  country  resounded  ^^^th  the  praises  of  Washin<>-ton 
and  congress  unanimously  thanked  him  "for  his  great  good 
conduct  and  victory."  Nor  may  history  omit  to  record  that, 
of  the  "revolutionary  patriots"  who  on  that  day  perilled  life 


li     t 


:    M 


Hi;; 


i    ;' 


II 


ii     !« 


378    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  on.xvin. 

for  their  country,  more  than  seven  L  idred  colored  Americans 
fought  side  by  side  with  the  white. 

After  the  battle,  Lee  was  treated  from  head-quarters  with 
forbearance ;  but  in  two  letters  to  the  commander-in-chief  he 
avowed  the  expectation  that  the  campaign  would  close  the 
war— that  is,  that  the  terms  offered  by  the  British  commission- 
ers would  be  accepted— and  demanded  reparation  for  injustice 
and  injury.     A  court-martial  found  him  guilty  of  disobedience, 
misbehavior  before  the  enemy,  and  disrespect  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  all  too  leniently  did  but  suspend  him 
from  command  for  twelve  months.     After  long  delay,  con- 
gress confirmed  the  sentence,  though  by  a  narrow  vote.     The 
next  year  it  censured  Lee  for  obtaining  money  through  British 
officers  in  ]S"ew  York,  and  in  January  1780,  provoked  by  an 
impertinent  letter,  dismissed  him  from  the  service.     From 
that  time  he  no  longer  concealed  his  wish  for  the  return  of 
America  to  her  old  allegiance,  and  his  chosen  companions  were 
the  partisans  of  England.     Under  the  false  colors  of  military 
genius  and  experience  in  war,  he  had  solicited  a  command ; 
after  his  appointment  he  had  given  the  reins  to  self-will  so  that 
misfortune  overtook  his  treachery.     In  October  1782,  sinking 
under  a  fever  m  a  sordid  inn  at  Philadelphia,  he  died  as  he 
had  lived,  loving  neither  God  nor  man. 


I' 


\v\ 


Ih 


h-r 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCn  ALLIANCE. 


279 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

after  the  feench  alliance. 

June-December  1778. 

CoNFiNET)  between  ridges  three  miles  apart,  the  Susque- 
hannah,  for  a  little  more  than  twenty  miles,  winds  through  the 
valley  of  Wyoming.     Abrupt  rocks,  rent  by  tributary  streams, 
rise  on  the  east,  while  the  western  declivities  are  luxuriantly 
fertile.     Connecticut,  whose  charter  from  Charles  II.  was  older 
than  that  of  Pennsylvania,  using  its  prior  claim   to  lands 
north  of  the  Mamaroneck  river,  had  colonized  this  beautiful 
region  and  governed  it  as  its  county  of  Westmoreland.     The 
settlements,  begun  in  1754,  increased  in  numbers  and  wealth 
till  their  annual  tax  amounted  to  two  thousand  pounds  in  Con- 
necticut currency.     In  the  winter  of  1776  the  people  aided 
Washington  with  two  companies  of  infantry,  though  their  men 
were  all  needed  to  protect  their  o^vn  homes.     Knowing  the 
alliance  of  the  British  with  the  Six  Nations,  they  built  a  Hne 
of  ten  forts  as  places  of  refuge. 

The  Seneca  tribe  kept  fresh  in  memory  their  chiefs  and 
braves  who  fell  in  the  conflict  with  the  New  York  husband- 
men at  Oriskany.  Their  king,  Sucingerachton,  was,  both  in 
war  and  in  council,  the  foremost  man  in  all  the  Six  Nations. 
Compared  with  him,  the  Mohawk,  Brant,  who  had  been  but 
very  lately  known  upon  the  war-path,  was  lightly  esteemed. 
His  attachment  to  the  English  increased  to  a  passion  on  the 
alliance  of  America  with  the  French,  for  whom  he  cherished 
implacable  hate.  Through  his  interest,  and  by  the  blandish, 
ments  of  gifts  and  pay  and  chances  of  revenge.  Colonel  John 
Butler  lured  the  Seneca  warriors  to  cross  the  border  of  Penn- 
sykania  under  the  British  flag. 


<4.1 


il 


280      AMEIIICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FKANCE.    ep.  i^.  ;  on.  x.x. 

The  party  of  savages  and  rangers,  numbering  between  five 
hundred  and  seven  hundred  men,  fell  down  the  Tioga  river, 
and  ou  the  lu3t  day  of  Juno  hid  in  tlie  forests  above  Wyo^ 
niing.     The  next  day  the  two  northernmost  forts  capitulated. 
The  men  of  Wyoming,  old  and  young,  with  one  regular  com- 
pimy,  in  all  hardly  more  than  three  hundred,  took  counsel 
with  one  another,  and  found  no  hope  of  deliverance  for  their 
families  but   through  a  victorious  encounter  with  a  foe  of 
twice  their  n-naber,  and  more  skilful  in  the  woods  than  them- 
selves.   On  the  third  of  July  the  devoted  band,  led  by  Colonel 
Zebulon  Butler,  who  had  just  returned  from  the  continental 
service,  began  their  march  up  the  river.     The  horde  of  inva- 
ders, pretending  to  retreat,  couched  themsehcs  on  the  ground 
in  an  open  wood.     The  villagers  of  Wyoming  began  firing  as 
they  drew  near,  and  at  the  third  volley  stood  within  one  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  ambush,  when  the  Seneca  braves  rose  to  the 
attack  and  were  inmiediately  seconded  by  the  rangers.     The 
Scnecas  giive  no  quarter,  and  in  less  than  a  half-horn-  took 
two  hundi-ed  and  twenty-live  scalps,  among  them  those  of  two 
field  officers  and  seven  captains.     The  rangers  saved  the  lives 
of  but  live  of  their  captives.     On  the  British  side  only  two 
whites  were  killed  and  eight  Indians  wounded.     The  next  day 
the  remaining  forts,  fiUed  chieliy  with  women  and  children, 
capitulated.     The  long  and  wailing  procession  of  the  suiwivors, 
flyiiig  from  their  fields  of  corn,  their  gardens,  the  flames  of 
their  cottages,  the  unburied  bodies  of  their  beloved  defenders 
escaped  by  a  pass  through  the  hills  to  the  eastern  settlements! 
Every  foxt  and  dwelling  w\as  burnt. 

The  Senecas  roamed  over  the  surrounding  country,  adepts 
in  murder  and  devastation.  The  British  leader  boasted  in  his 
report  that  his  party  had  burnt  a  thousand  houses  and  every 
miU;  Germain  in  reply  extolled  their  prowess  and  even  their 
humanity,  and  resolved  on  directing  a  succession  of  similar 
parties,  and  to  waste  the  older  settlements,  but  not  to  recover 
and  hold  them.  The  ancient  affection  for  England  was  washed 
out  in  blood. 

After  the  retreat  of  the  British,  the  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  well  as  that  of  Xew  Jersey,  used  the  right  of  bring- 
mg  to  trial  tliose  of  their  citizens  who  had  been  false  to  theii- 


1778.  AFTER  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE.  281 

allegianco;  but  Livingston,  tl.o  govonior  of  New  Jersey,  par- 
doned every  one  of  seventeen  who  were  found  guilty.  At 
Philadelphia,  against  ids  intereession,  two  men,  one  of  whom 
had  conducted  a  British  party  to  a  midiught  cama^'e,  were 
convicted,  and  suffered  on  the  gallows,  llogret  pz-evailed  thac 
these  had  not  m  hke  manner  been  forgiven. 

Ijefore  the  treaties  of  alliance  had  been  signed  Yergenncs 
wrote  "  that  it  was  almost  physically  impossible  for  the  Eih^- 
hsh  to  wrest  independence  from  the  Americans;  that  all 
efforts,  however  great,  would  be  powerless  to  recall  a  poo])le 
so  thoroughly  detennined  to  refuse  submission."  On  the  side 
of  the  sea,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  the  British  occupied 
no  posts  except  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  and  New  York 
city  with  its  environs.  The  British  were  as  yet  at  Ogdensburg 
Niagara,  and  Detroit;  but  the  Americans  held  the  country 
from  the  Highlands  to  the  water-shed  of  Lake  Ontario. 

The  love  and  the  exercise  of  individual  liberty,  though 
they  hindered  the  efficiency  of  government,  made  the  Ameri- 
cans unconquerable.  They  looked  beyond  danger  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  peace  in  a  family  and  country  of  their  own.  Their 
service  in  the  camp  exalted  their  character;  they  knew  that 
they  were  suffering,  not  for  their  own  land  only,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  the  human  race.  Moreover,  the  inmost  mind  of  the 
American  people  had  changed.  The  consciousness  of  a  na- 
tional life  had  dissolved  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  to  the  crown 
of  England. 

In  England  a  similar  revolution  had  taken  place.  The  in- 
surgents, losing  the  name  of  rebels,  began  to  be  called  Ameri- 
cans. Officers,  returning  from  the  war,  said  openly  that  "no 
person  of  judgment  conceived  the  least  hope  that  the  colonies 
could  be  subjected  by  force."  Some  British  statesmen  thought 
to  retain  a  political,  or  at  least  a  commercial,  connection ;  while 
many  were  willing  to  give  them  u])  unconditionallv.  Even 
before  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  Gibbon,  a  member  of  the 
board  of  trade,  confessed  that,  though  England  had  sent  to 
America  the  greatest  force  which  any  European  power  ever 
ventured  to  transport  into  that  continent,  it  was  not  strong 
enough  to  attack  its  enemy,  nor  to  prevent  them  from  recoiv- 
mg  aasistauce;    the  war  "measures"  of  the  administratiou 


U 


i!  il 


\% 


\l 

I' I 

t 

■I 

j 


'  'il    1^ 


282      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IT. ;  cir.  XIX 


rr 


r^mi' 


A  !    1' 


were  therefore  "  so  repugnant  to  sound  policy  tiiat  they  ceased 
to  be  right."  After  that  surrender,  ho  agreed  that,  since  "  the 
substance  of  power  was  lost,  the  name  of  indepeudonco  might 
be  granted  to  the  Americans."  General  Howe  coupled  his 
retirement  from  active  service  with  the  avowal  that  the  dis- 
posable resources  of  his  country  could  produce  no  decisive  re- 
sult. "  Things  go  ill,  and  will  not  go  better,"  wrote  the  chief 
of  the  new  commission  for  establishing  peace.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  the  successor  of  Howe,  reported  himself  too  weak  to 
attempt  the  restoration  of  the  king's  authority.  Lord  George 
Gennaiii  had  no  plan  for  the  coming  campaign  but  to  lay  the 
colonies  waste.  Lord  North,  who  had  been  at  the  head  of 
affairs  from  1770,  owned  in  anguish  the  failure  of  his  system 
and  deplored  its  continuance.  Should  the  Americans  ratify 
the  French  alliance,  Lord  Amherst,  who  was  the  guide  of  the 
ministry  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  recommended  the  evacua- 
tion of  New  York  and  Ehode  Island  and  the  employment  of 
the  troops  against  the  French  West  Indies. 

But  the  radical  change  of  opinion  was  shown  most  clearly 
by  the  votes  of  parliament.  In  February  1774,  the  house 
of  conanons,  in  a  moment  of  unrestrained  passion,  adopted 
measures  for  enforcing  the  traditional  absolutism  of  parlia- 
ment by  majorities  of  three  to  one  :  corresponding  majorities, 
in  February  1778,  reversed  its  judgment,  repealed  the  puni- 
tive acts,  and  conceded  everything  which  the  colonics  had  de- 
manded. 

There  was  «a  general  cry  for  peace."  The  king,  in 
January  1778,  confessed  to  Lord  North:  "The  time  may 
come  when  it  will  be  wise  to  abandon  all  North  America 
but  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  Floridas ;  but  then  the 
generality  of  the  nation  must  see  it  first  in  that  light." 
Lord  Eockingham  was  convinced,  and  desired  to  "convince 
the  public,  of  the  impossibility  of  going  on  with  the  war." 
On  the  second  of  February,  Fox  spoke  against  its  continuance, 
and  was  heard  wit,  favor ;  and  on  the  division  several  tories 
voted  with  him.  ..aglish  opinion  had  b-  this  time  resigned 
itself  to  the  belief  th..^  the  United  States  could  not  be  reduced. 

Fox  would  have  i^ad  England  "  instantly  declare  their  in- 
dependence;"  Pownall,  who  had  once  defended  the  stamp 


PM 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE. 


283 


act,  urged  their  recognition;  and  Conway,  breaking  through 
his  reserve,   said  in  parliament:    "It  has   been  proved   to 
demonstration  tiiat  there  is  no  other  method  (;f  having  peace 
with  them  but  acknowledging  them  to  be,  what  they  really 
are,  and  what  they  are  determined  to  remain,  independent 
states."     The  house  of  commons  seemed  secretly  to  agree  with 
him.    Tories  began  to  vote  against  the  ministry.     The  secre- 
tary of  war,  ^ui•d  Barrington,  said  to  the  king:  "The  opinion 
that  the  administration  is  not  equal  to  the  times  prevails  even 
among  those  who  are  most  dependent  on  the  ministers  and 
most  attached  to  them ;  nay,  it  prevails  among  the  ministers 
themselves."     Lord  North  was  convinced  of  the  ruinous  ten- 
dency  of  his  mca.uics,  and  professed,  but  only  professed,  an 
earnest  wisii  to  i-.  sign  office.    Lord  Mansfield  deplored  the  dan- 
ger of  a  war  with  both  houses  of  the  Bourlwns.     The  landed 
aristocracy  were  grown  weary  of  the  conflict  of  which  the  con- 
tinuance i)romised  only  increasing  taxation  and  a  visible  loss  of 
national  dignity  and  importance.     So  long  as  there  remained 
a  hope  of  recovering  America,  the  ministers  were  supported, 
for  ihey  alone  would  undertake  its  red;.ction.     The  desire  to 
replace  them  by  statesmen  more  worthy  of  a  great  peoj)le  im- 
plied the  consent  to  peace  on  the  basis  of  American  indepen- 
dence.    To  that  end  all  elements  conspired. 

On  the  second  of  July  the  president  and  several  members 
of  congress  met  once  more  in  Philadelphia.     On  the  ninth 
the  articles  of  confederation,  engrossed  on  parchment,  were 
signed  by  eight  states.     On  the  tenth,  congress  issued  a  circu- 
lar to  the  other  five,  urging  them  "  to  conclude  the  glorious 
compact  which  was  to  unite  the  strength,  wealth,  and  councils 
of  the  whole."    North  Carolina  acceded  on  the  twenty-first; 
Georgia,  on  the  twenty-fourth.    New  Jersey  demanded  for 
the  United  States  the  regulation  of  trade  and  the  ownership 
of  the  ungranted  north-western  domain  ;  but,  after  unassisted 
efforts  for  a  more  eflicient  union,  the  state,  oi  the  twenty-fifth 
of  the  following  November,  accepted  the  confederacy  without 
amendment;  and,  on  the  fifth  of  May  1779,  the  delegates  of 
Delaware  did  the  same.    Maryland  alone  a-  osted  the  consum- 
mation of  the  confederation  by  demanding,  that  the  public 
lands  nortWst  of  the  Ohio  should  first  be  recognised  as  the 


?■■■ 


'I- 


I: 

i;  \ 


hi 


m 


•!'! 


i  yl\}  v.: 


284      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.;  en.  xix. 

common  property  of  all  the  states,  and  held  as  a  common  re- 
s<jurce  to  discharge  the  debts  contracted  by  congress  for  the 
expenses  of  the  Avar. 

On  tlie  eightli  of  Jnly  tlie   French   fleet,   consisting  of 
twelve  ships  of  the  line  and  three  frigates,  after  a  rongl/voy- 
agc  of  nearly  ninety  days  from  Toulon,  anchored  in  the  bay  of 
Delaware,  ten  days  too  late  to  intercept  the  inferior  squadron 
of  Lord  Howe  and  its  crowd  of  transports  on  their  retreat 
froni   Philadelphia.      The    Count   d'Estaing    had   persuaded 
Marie  Antoinette  to  propose  the  expedition,  of  which  he  be- 
came the  admiral.     On  the  eleventh,  congress  learned  from 
his  letters  that  he  was  "  ready  to  co-operate  Avith  the  states  in 
the  reduction  of  the  British  anny  and  na^y."     This  first  invi- 
tation to  a  concert  of  measures  revealed  that  the  American 
people,  for  want  of  an  organized  government,  could  do  no  more 
than  empower  Washington  to  call  upon  the  six  states  north  of 
the  Delaware  for  aids  of  militia,  while  its  financial  measure 
Avas  a  popular  loan  to  be  raised  throughout  the  country  by 
volunteer  collectors. 

^  D'Estaing  followed  his  enemy  to  the  North,  and  anchored 
within  Sandy  Kook,  where  he  intercepted  unsuspecting  Brit- 
ish ships  bound  for  New  York.  The  fleet  of  Lord  Howe  was 
imperfectly  manned,  but  his  fame  attracted  from  merchant 
vessels  and  transports  a  full  complement  of  volunteers.  The 
French  fleet  desired  nevertheless  to  sail  up  tht'  bay  and  offer 
battle ;  but  no  pilots  could  be  found  to  take  its  largest  ships 
througli  the  cliannel. 

Since  New  York  could  not  be  reached,  d'Estaing,  igno- 
rant of  the  secret  agreement  l)etween  France  and  Spain,  in- 
dulged the  dream  of  annexing  l^ritish  Newfoundland  to' the 
American  republic  as  a  fourteenth  state  with  representation  in 
congress.    Washington  projiosed  to  employ  the  temporary  supe- 
riority at  sea  in  the  capture  of  Ehode  Island  and  its  garrison 
of  six  thousand  men.     He  had  in  advance  summoned  ]\[assa- 
ehusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island  to  send  quotas  of  their 
militia  for  the  expedition.     The  council  of  war  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and, exceeding  his  requirement,  called  out  one  half  of  the 
effective  force  of  the  state  for  twenty  days  from  the  flrct  of 
August,  and  ordered  the  reniainder  to  be  ready  at  a  minute's 


nil 

■  u 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH   ALLIANCE. 


^'i! 


285 


waniing.     Out  of  his  own  feeble  army  he  spared  one  brigade 
from  Massaclinsetts  and  one  from  Rhode  Island,  of  one  thou- 
sand each,  and  they  were  followed  by  a  further  detachment. 
Directing  Sullivan,  who  was  placed  over  the  district  of  Ehode 
Island,  to  throw  the  American  troops  into  two  divisions,  he 
sent  Greene  to  command  the  one,  and  Lafayette  the  other. 
Young  Laurens  served  d'Estaing  tis  aid  and  interpreter.     On 
the  twenty-ninth  of  July,  while  Clinton  was  reporting  to  Ger- 
main  that  he  would  probably  be  under  the  necessity  of  evacuat- 
ing New  York  and  retiring  to  Halifax,  the  French  fleet,  with 
thirty-five  hundred  land  troops  on  board,  appeared  oil  New- 
port ;  and  the  British  saw  themselves  forced  to  destroy  ten  or 
m(jre  anned  ships  and  galleys,  cai-rying  two  hundred  and  twelve 
guns. 

The  country  was  palpitating  with  joy  at  the  alliance  with 
France.  Congress,  on  Sunday  the  sixth  of  August,  with  stud- 
ied ceremony  gave  its  audience  of  reception  to  Conrad  Alex- 
ander Gerard,  the  French  plenipotentiary,  listened  to  his  assur- 
ances of  the  affection  of  his  king  for  the  United  States  and  for 
"each  one"  of  them,  and  "acknowledged  the  hand  of  a  gra- 
cious Providence  in  raising  them  up  so  powerful  a  friend." 
Robert  Livingston  ex]n-essed  the  h..pe  that  congress,  in  treat- 
ing for  peace,  would  insist  on  the  independence  of  Canada, 
Hudson's  bay,  the  Floridas,  and  all  the  continent. 

Ou  the  eighth  the  French  fleet,  which  a  whim  of  Sullivan 
had  detained  for  ten  days  in  the  offing,  ran  past  the  British 
batteries  into  the  harbor  of  Newport.  The  landing  had  been 
coucerted  for  the  tenth  ;  but,  learning  that  the  British  outposts 
on  the  north  of  the  island  had  been  withdrawn,  Sullivan,  on 
the  morning  of  the  ninth,  without  notice  to  d'Estaing,  crossed 
with  his  troops  from  the  side  of  Tiverton.  Scarcely  had  he 
done  so  when  the  s-piadron  of  Lord  Howe,  which  had  been  rein- 
forced from  England,  was  seen  to  anchor  near  Point  Judith. 
On  the  tenth,  a  strong  wind  rising  from  the  north-east,  d'Es- 
taing, by  advice  of  his  officers,  among  whom  Avere  Suifren  and 
do  (h-asse,  bore  down  u])on  the  British  scpiadron  in  order  of 
iKittle.^  While  d'Estain  vas  baffled  in  the  attempt  to  force 
an  action,  the  wind  incre;i,s(ul  to  a  hurricniie  and  wrecked  and 
scattered  both  fleets.     The  French  ship  Languedoc  lust  its 


i  ii 


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I'' 


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i 


286      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  cn.xix. 

rudder  and  masts ;  the  Ai^ollo,  to  wliicli  the  British  admiral 
had  shifted  his  flag,  could  not  keep  at  sea. 

The  same  storm  flooded  Rhode  Island  with  rain,  damaged 
the  ammunition  of  the  American  army,  overturned  their  tents, 
and  left  them  no  shelter  exee^jt  trees  and  fences.  Horses  were 
killed,  and  even  soldiers  perished.  The  British  troops,  being 
quartered  in  the  town,  suifered  less ;  and,  on  the  return  of  fair 
weather,  Pigot,  hut  for  his  inertness,  might  have  fallen  upon  a 
defenceless  enemy. 

The  squadron  of  Lord  Howe  steered  for  Sandy  Hook. 
D'Estaing,  three  of  whose  ships  had  severally  encountered 
three  English  ships,  ap])eared  on  the  twentieth  within  siglit  of 
Newport ;  but  only  to  announce  that  he  was  compelled  to  sail 
for  Boston  for  repairs  and  supplies.  In  general  orders,  Sulli- 
van censured  d'Estaing,  and  insinuated  the  inutility  of  the 
French  alliance  ;  and  then,  under  compulsion  from  Lafayette, 
in  other  general  orders  made  reparation.  Washington  sent  him 
timely  and  incessant  messages  to  M'ithdraw  from  the  island ; 
yet  he  persisted  in  raising  on  Ilonymau's  Hill  batteries  which 
were  too  remote  to  be  of  use.  The  retreat,  ■which  was  con- 
ducted in  the  presence  of  regular  troops  superior  in  numbers, 
was  delayed  till  the  night  of  the  twenty-eighth.  The  next  day 
the  British  attempted  to  get  round  the  American  right  wing, 
and  cut  oU  eveiy  chance  of  escape.  On  that  side,  Greene,  sup- 
ported by  young  Laurens,  changed  the  defence  into  an  attack, 
and  drove  the  enemy  in  disorder  and  with  loss  back  to  their 
strong  post  on  Quaker  Hill.  On  the  night  following  the  thir- 
tieth the  army  of  Sullivan,  evading  its  pursuers,  escaped  from 
the  island. 

Clinton,  with  a  reinforcement  of  four  thousand  men,  landed 
the  next  day.  He  soon  returned  U  Xevv  York,  having  accom- 
plished nothing,  except  that  a  detachment  under  Grey  set  fire 
to  the  shipping  in  E"ew  Bedford,  and  then  levied  cattle  and 
money  on  the  farmei-s  of  Martha's  Vineyard.  Lord  Howe 
gave  up  thfe  naval  command  to  Admiral  Byron,  and  was  not 
again  employed  in  America.  "Washington,  in  August,  as  he 
came  again  upon  White  Plains,  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Virginia : 
"After  two  years'  manreuvring  and  the  strangest  vicissitudes, 
both  armies  are  brought  back  to  the  very  point  they  set  out 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH   ALLIANCE. 


287 


from,  and  tlie  offending  party  at  the  beginning  is  now  reduced 
to  the  use  of  the  spade  and  pickaxe  for  defence.  The  hand 
of  Providence  has  been  so  conspicuous  in  all  this  that  he  must 
be  worse  than  an  infidel  that  lacks  faith,  and  more  than  wicked 
that  has  not  gratitude  to  acknowledge  his  obligations."  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  of  Connecticut  expressed  the  belief  of  his 
state  when  he  said:  "  In  the  series  of  marvellous  occurrences 
during  the  present  war  he  must  be  bhnd  who  doth  not  see 
the  divine  ordering  thereof." 

On  the  third  of  October  the  commissioners  for  restoring 
peace  to  the  colonies  addressed  a  farewell  manifesto  to  the 
congress,  assemblies,  and  other  inhabitants  of  America,  that  their 
persistence  in  separating  from  Great  Britain  would  "change 
the  whole  nature  and  futiu-e  conduct  of  this  war;"  that  "the 
extremes  of  war"  should  so  distress  the  people  and  desolate 
the  country  as  to  make  them  of  little  avail  to  France.     Con- 
gress jniblished  the  paper  in  the  gazettes  to  convince  the  people 
of  the  insidious  designs  of  the  conunissioners.      In  the  British 
house  of  commons  Coke  of  Norfelk  proposed  to  disavow  the 
declai-ation.     Lord  George  Germain  insisted  that  the  Ameri- 
cans by  their  alliance  were  become  French,  and  should  be 
treated  as  Frenchmen.     Burke  pointed  out  that  the  "  dreadful 
menace  was  pronounced  against  those  who,  conscious  of  recti- 
tude, stood  up  to  figlit  for  freedom  and  country."     The  com- 
^  missioner,  Johnstone,  who,  in  changing  sides  on  the  American 
'  question,  had  not  tamed  the  fury  of  his  manner,  said :  "  L  o 
quarter  ought  to  be  shown  to  their  congress ;  and,  if  the  infer- 
nals  could  be  let  loose  against  them,  I  should  approve  of  the 
measure.    The  proclamation  certainly  does  mean  a  war  of  deso- 
lation ;  it  can  mean  nothing  else."     Gibbon  di\nded  silently 
with  the  friends  of  America,  who  had  with  them  the  judg- 
ment, though  not  the  vote,  of  the  house.     Three  days  later 
Ttuckingham  in  the  house  of  lords  denounced  the  "  accursed  " 
manifesto,  and  declared  that  "  since  the  coming  of  Christ  war 
had  not  been  conducted  on  such  inhuman  ideas."    Lord  Suf- 
folk, in  reply,  appealed  to  the  bench  of  bishops ;  on  which 
the  bislu)])  of  Peterborough,  tracing  the  resembiauce  between 
the  proclamation  and  the  acts  of  Butler  at  WYnmi'irr  added : 
"  There  is  an  article  in  the  extraordinaries  of  the  army  for 


I 


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.  i       ^ 
,1.      ! 


3  1  J, 


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P  N- 


OH^H 


^i  i 


P  '  hl^ 


288       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.iv.;  cn.xix. 

sealping-kiiives.    Great  Britain  defeats  any  hope  in  the  justness 
of  her  cause  by  means  like  these  to  sup])ort  it." 

The  debate  closed  well  for  America,  except  that  Lord  Shel- 
burne  was  provoked  into  saying  that  he  never  would  serve 
with  any  man  who  would  consent  to  its  independence. 

The  British  army  under  CUnton  could  only  ravage  and 
destroy  hy  sudden  expeditions.     Toward  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber, Cornwallis  led  a  foray  into  New  Jersey;  and  Major-Gen- 
eral  Grey  with  a  party  of  infantry,  surprising  Baylor's  light- 
horse,  used  the  bayonet  mercilessly  against  men  that  sued"for 
quarter.    A  band,  led  by  Captain  Patrick  Ferguson  in  October 
after  destroying  the  shipping  in  Little  Egg  Harbor,  spread 
througli  the  neighboring  country  to  burn  the  houses  and  waste 
the  lands  of  the  patriots.     On  the  night  of  the  fifteenth  thev 
surprised  light  infantry  under  Pulaski's  command;  and,  cum- 
bering themselves  with  no  i)risoners,  killed  all  they  could.    In 
l^ovember  a  large  party  of  Indians,  with  bands  of  tories  and 
regulars  entered  Cherry  valley  by  an  unguarded  pass,  and,  find- 
ing the  fort  too  strong  to  be  taken,  murdered  and  scalped  more 
than  thirty  of  the  inhabitants,  most  of  them  women  and  children 
Immediately  after  the  general  declaration  of  independence 
the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  by  common  consent,  intrusted 
constituent  powers  to  their  representatives.     In  January  1777 
a  bill  for  a  new  constitution  was  introduced.     The  senate  was 
to  be  chosen  by  the  electors  in  the  several  parishes;  the  dis- 
ribution  of  the  representation  in  the  general  assembly  was 
left  unclianged.     The   bill  was  printed,  and  submitted  for 
exammation  to  the  people  for  more  than  a  year.     The  legisla- 
ture, in  March  1778,  gave  it  their  sanction;  and  it  wa^^then 
presented  to  the  president  for  confirmation.     Every  one  ex 
pected  that  in  a  few  hours  it  would   be  proclaimed,  when 
Kutledge  the  outgoing  president,  called  the  council  and  assem- 
bly into  the  council  chamber,  and,  after  a  formal  speech,  gave 
It  a  negative,  l)ecause  it  took  from  the  chief  of  the  executive 
his  veto  power.     The  majority  determined  to  vote  no  taxes 
until  the  veto  should  be  reversed.    After  a  three  days'  adjourn- 
men,  which  was  recpiired  by  thu  rules  before  a  rejected  bill 
could  be  again  brought  forward,  Rawlins  Lowndes,'the  newly 
elected  president,  gave  his  sanction  to  the  re-enacted  bill 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCU  ALLIANCE. 


289 


The  now  constitution  might  be  altered  by  legislative  au- 
thority after  a  notice  of  ninety  days.    None  but  freeholders 
could  elect  or  be  elected  to  office;  and  for  tlie  higher  offices 
the  possession  of  a  large  freehold  was  required.     In  any  redis- 
tribution of  the  representation  of  the  state,  the  ULiiuber  of  white 
inhabitants  and  the  amount  of  taxable  property  were  to  be  con- 
sidered.    The  veto  power  was  taken  from  the  president.     Till 
this  time,  the  church  of  England  had  been  the  established 
church  in  South  Carolina.     The  Christian  Protestant  church 
was  now  declared  to  be  the  established  religion  of  the  state ; 
and  none  but  Protestants  were  eligible  to  high  executive  or 
any  legislative  office.     The  right  of  suffrage  was  conferred 
exclusively  on  every  free  white  man  who,  having  the  requisite 
age  and  freehold,  acknowledged  God  and  a  future  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments.     All  persons  who  so  believed,  and 
that  God  is  publicly  to  be  worshipped,  might  fonn  religious 
soci.ties.    The  support  of  religious  worship  was  voluntary ;  the 
property  then  belonging  to  societies  of  the  chm-ch  of  England, 
or  any  other  religion  >  societies,  was  secured  to  them  in  per- 
petuity.^   The  people  were  to  enjoy  forever  the  right  of  elect- 
ing their  own  pastors  or  clergy ;  but  the  state  was^  entitled  to 
secui-ity  for  the  due  discharge  of  the  pastoral  office  by  the 
persons  so  elected.     Of  slaves  or  slavery  no  mention  was  made 
except  by  implication. 

The  constitution  having  been  adopted  on  the  nineteenth  of 
March  1778,  to  go  into  effect  on  the  following  twenty-ninth 
of  November,  all  resident  free  male  persons  in  the  state  above 
sixteen  years,  refusing  to  take  the  oath  to  maintain  it  against 
the  king  of  Great  Britain  and  all  other  enemies,  were  exiled ; 
but  a  period  of  twelve  months  after  their  departure  was  al- 
lowed them  to  dispose  of  their  property.  In  October  1778, 
after  the  intention  of  the  British  to  reduce  South  Carolina 
became  knoum,  death  was  made  the  penalty  for  refusing  to 
depart  from  tlie  state,  or  for  returning  without  permission. 

At  this  time  the  British  ministry,  resigning  the  hope  of 
reducing  the  North,  indulged  the  expectation  of  conquering 
all  the  states  south  of  the  Susquehannah.  For  this  end  the 
British  commander-in-chief  at  New  York  was  ordered  to  de- 
spatch before  October,  if  ])ossible,  a  thousand  men  to  reinforce 


! 


aii 


ill  - 


n 


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H.i 


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I'i    V, 


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li'.  I 


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(1, 1^1 


i  ' ' 


290     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.;  en.  six. 

Pensacola,  and  three  tliousand  to  take  Savannah.     Two  thou 

sand  more  were  destined  as  a  reinforcement  to  St.  Augnstine  ' 

Ihe  new  policy  was  inaugurated  by  remonstrances  from 

the  highest  British  officials  in  America,  and  was  followed  Z 

never-ending  complaints.     Lord  Carlisle  and  his  associate  com- 

missioners  deprecated  the  policy  of  enfeebling  New  York  by 

detachments  for  distan<  services.    "  Under  these  appearances  of 

weakness,"  so  they  reported,  "our  cause  has  visibly  declined." 

S  r  Heniy  Chnton  remonstrated  against  being  "a  mournful 

witness  o    the  debility"  of  his  army  « reduce'    to  Tl^ed 

def  nsivo."    Every  detachment  for  the  southern  campaign  Z 

offend"  1    ""r  "'.^"*^""'   ^°'  ^^^  -^"-*  -^--til^ 
oltendeu  the  unforgiving  minister. 

The  use  of  paper  money  by  the  Americans  and  its  ever-ac- 
celerated depreciation,  and  the  want  of  a  central  government 
reviveu  the  hope  of  subjugating  them.     The  United  States 
closed  the  campaign   of  1778   before  autumn,  for  want   o 
money     Paper  bills,  emitted  by  congress  on  its  pledge  of  the 

;erL      T^  •  '7T"  ''"''^  '"1^^"^"*"^  '^'  "'^^  "^  ^*«  -^rliest 
period.     Their  decline  was  hastened  by  the  disasters  that  befell 

he  American  armies.      Their  value  was  further  impaired  by 
the  Ignoble  stratagem  of  the  British  ministers,  uncler  whose 
authority  Lord  Dunmore  and  others  introduced  into  the  circu- 
ation  of  Yirgmia  and  other  states  a  large  number  of  bills  coun- 
terfeited for  the  purpose  in  England.     In  October  1776,  con- 
gress which  possessed  no  independent  resources  and  no  powers 
on  which  credit  could  be  founded,  opened  loan  offices  in  the 
several  states  and  authorized  a  lottery.    In  December  it  issued 
live  railhon  dollars  more  in  continental  bills.    In  January  1777 
when  they  had  sunk  to  one  half  of  their  pretended  value,  it 
denoimced  eveiy  person  who  would  not  receive  them  at  par  as 
a  public  enemy,  lial,le  to  forfeit  whatever  he  offered  for  sale  • 
and  it  requested  the  state  legislatures  to  declare  them  a  lawful 
tender.     This  Massachusetts  had  enacted  a  month  before ,  and 
the  example  was  followed  throughout  the  union. 

The  loan  offices  exchanged  United  States  paper  money  at 
par  for  certificates  of  debt  bearing  six  per  cent  interest.  On 
a  hint  from  Arthur  Lee,  congress  resolved  to  pay  this  interest 
by  drawing  on  its  commissioners  in  Paris  for  coin,  though  the 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE. 


291 

commissioners  had  no  funds.  The  bills  were  of  a  very  long 
date;  and,  before  they  became  due,  one  dollar  in  coin  was 
worth  SIX  in  paper. 

In  the  middle  of  November  177(5,  Massachusetts,  which 
kul  grown  opulent  before  the  war  by  tolerating  no  currency 
but  hard  money,  proposed  a  convention  of  committees  from 
the  severa  Jsew  England  states  to  consider  all  questions  relat- 
ing to  public  credit.  Connecticut  feared  the  measure  would 
give  umbrage  to  congress.  Upon  this,  a  convention  of  the 
^  cw  England  states,  called  by  Rhode  Island  under  the  name 
of  a  council  of  war,"  met  on  Christmas  day  at  Providence. 
They  regiilatcd  prices,  proposed  taxation  and  loans,  and  recom- 
mended that  the  states  should  issue  no  more  paper,  "  unless  in 
extreme  cases  "  Congress  liked  their  doings  so  well  that,  in 
January  luT,  it  advised  similar  conventions  of  the  middle 
and  of  the  three  southernmost  states.  Strivin^r  for  the  mo- 
nopoly of  paper  money,  it  asked  the  states  to  call  in  their 
bills,  and  to  issue  no  more. 

All  the  measures  hitherto  suggested  ha^^ng  failed  of  their 
object,  Massachusetts  once  more  took  the  lead;  and  on  her 
invitation,  the  four  New  England  states  and  IS^ew  York  met 
near  the  end  of  July,  at  Springfield  on  the  Connecticut.  With 
one  voice,  they  found  the  root  of  all  financial  difficulties  in  the 
use  ot  irredeemable  paper.  As  the  only  remedy,  thev  proposed 
to  sink  all  bills  of  the  states,  and  to  provide  alike  for  their 
local  expenses  and  those  of  the  war  by  quarter-vearly  taxes. 
Their  example  showed  how  readily  the  people  of  the  states 
could  come  together  by  their  delegates  for  the  purpose  of 
reforming  the  government ;  prices  rose  and  bills  went  down 
with  accelerated  speed. 

The  anxious  deliberations  of  the  committee  of  cono-resa 
during  more  than  two  months  at  Yorktown,  with  the  report 
of  the  Springfield  convention  before  them,  produced  only  a 
recommendation,  adopted  in  November  1777,  that  the  several 
states  should  become  creditors  of  the  United  States  bv  raising 
tor  the  continental  treasury  fi^:e  milhons  of  dollars"  in  four 
qnarterly  instalments,  the  first  payment  to  be  made  on  the 
coming  New  Year's  day,  and  the  whole  to  bear  six  per  eent 
interest  luitil  the  final  adjustment  of  accounts,  after  the  con- 


n 


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if  "' 


I 


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■m   I:     > 


f  ii 


292      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  W ITII  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  on.  xix. 

federation  slionld  have  been  ratified.  Massaclmsetts  was  rated 
at  eiglit  Inmdrod  aud  twenty  thousand  dollars;  Virginia,  at 
eight  hundred ;  Peunsjlvania,  at  six  hundred  and  Iwen'ty  • 
Conncctieut,  at  six  hundi-ed;  New  York,  rent  and  ravaged  bv 
the  \\ar,  at  two  hundred ;  Delaware  and  Georgia,  each  at  sixtv. 
A  general  wi.sh  prevailed  to  respect  the  recommendation ;  but 
most  of  the  states  retained  their  quota.^  to  reimburse  them- 
selves for  advances ;  and,  besides,  they  were  all  weighed  do\vn 
by  expenses  and  obligations  of  their  own. 

Shadowy  hopes  of  foreign  loans  rose  befoie  congress.  In 
Deceml)er  1777,  in  advance  of  treaties  of  commerce  and  alli- 
ance, the  American  commissioners  in  France  and  Spain  were 
instructed  to  borrow  two  million  pounds  sterling,  to  be  repaid 
in  ten  years;  and,  in  February  1778,  the  conuuissioner  for 
Tuscany  was  charged  to  borrow  half  as  much  more.  Yet  the 
grand  duke  of  Tuscany  would  have  no  relations  with  the 
United  States ;  and  no  power  was  so  HI  disposed  toward  them 
as  the  :Jng  of  Spain. 

To  the  American  people  congress  wrote  in  May :  "  The 
reasons  that  your  money  hath  depreciated  are,  because  no  taxes 
have  been  imposed  to  carry  on  the  war; "  but  they  did  not  aa 
yet  venture  to  ask  power  to  levy  taxes.     On  obtaining  the 
king  of  France  for  their  ally,  they  authorized  drafts  on  their 
commissioners  in  Paris  for  thirty-one  and  a  half  millions  of 
hvres  at  five  livres  to  the  dollar,  in  payment  of  loan-office 
certificates,  leaving  Franklin  and  his  colleagues  to  meet  the 
bilk  of  exchange  as  they  could.     Of  continental  bills,  five 
millions  of  dollars  were  issued  in  May,  as  many  more  in  June, 
and  as  many  more  in  July.     In  August,  congress  devoted  two 
days  in  the  week  to  the  consideration  of  its  finances,  but  with 
no  better  result  than  to  order  five  millions  of  dollars  in  paper 
in  the  first  week  of  September,  and  ten  millions  more  in  the 
last.     Certificates  of  the  loan  offices  were  used  in  great  amounts 
m  payment  of  debts  to  the  separate  states,  especially  to  Penn- 
sylvania. 

The  legalized  use  of  paper  money  spread  its  never-failing 
blight.  Trade  became  a  game  of  hazard.  Unscrupuloul 
debtors  discharged  contracts  of  long  standing  in  bills  worth 
perhaps  but  a  twentieth  of  their  nominal  value.     The  unwary 


Hi' 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH   ALLIANCE. 


293 


ran  in  deist,  while  cunning  creditors  waited  for  payment  till 
tlic  continental  bills  should  cease  to  be  a  legal  tender. 

TJie  name  of  Richard  Price  was  dear  to  every  lover  of 
IK.litical  freedom.  He  derived  his  +heory  of  morals  from 
eternal  and  immutable  principles,  and  his  essay  on  "Liberty" 
which  was  read  in  Great  Britain,  America,  and,  through  'a 
translation,  in  Germany,  founded  the  rights  of  uian  on  the 
reality  of  truth  and  justice.  Ho  had  devised  a  scheme  for  the 
pa^nuent  of  the  British  debt.  Congress,  on  the  sixth  of  Octo- 
ber, invited  him  to  become  (heir  fellow-citizen,  and  to  regulate 
their  finances.  The  invitation  was  declined  by  their  illus^trious 
fi-icnd ;  but  he  gave  the  assurance  that  he  « looked  upon  the 
United  States  as  now  the  hope,  and  soon  to  become  the  refuf^e 
of  iiiankind."  °  ' 

From  this  time  congress  saw  no  resource  but  in  such  "very 
considerable  loans  or  subsidies  in  Europe ''  a.s  could  be  expected 
only  from  an  ally ;  and,  before  the  end  of  October,  they  in- 
structed Frankhn  "to  assure  his  most  Christian  majesty  they 
hoped  protection  from  his  power  and  magnanimity.'"     There 
were  tliose  in  congress  who  would  not  place  their  country 
under  "ju-otection ;  "  but  the  word  was  retained  by  eight  states 
against   Rhode   Island  and  Maryland.     Samuel   Adtms  and 
Lovell  of  Massachusetts  voted  for  it,  but  we.-e  balanced  by 
Gerry  and  Holten;  Sherman  of  Connecticut  opposed  it,  but 
his  vote  was  neutralized  by  that  of  Ellsworth.     The  people 
of  the  United  States,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  were 
more  opulent  than  the  people  of  France ;  but  the  pride  that 
would  not  consent  to  an  efficient  union  was  willino-  to  ask 
protection.  ^ 

The  country  was  looking  to  the  United  Provinces  for  aid; 
and  in  December  Laurens  retired  from  the  office  ot  presi- 
dent of  congress,  in  the  expectation  of  being  appointed  to 
negotiate  a  loan  in  the  Netheriands.  Till  money  could  be 
borrowed,  paper  was  the  only  resource ;  and  the  wants  of  No- 
vember and  December  required  an  emission  of  rather  more 
than  twenty  millions.  The  .  bt  ?i  the  United  States,  in  cur- 
rency and  iu  certificates,  was  estimated  at  one  hundred  and 
forty  millions.  The  continental  bills  already  exceeded  one 
hundred  and  six  millions  of  doUai-s,  and  had  fallen  in  value  to 


iii:ll 


Mr 


§.|.- 1 


11  '^•. 

ill 


294:     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  en.  XI  s. 


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twenty  for  one  in  silver ;  jet  congress  maintained  "  the  cer- 
tainty  of  their  redemption,"  and  resolved— Sam nel  Adams  and 
six  others  dissenting—"  that  any  contrary  report  wa&  false,  and 
derogatory  to  its  honor."  To  make  good  the  promise,  the 
states  were  invited  to  withdraw  six  millions  of  j^aper  dollars 
annnally  for  eighteen  years,  beginning  with  the  year  1780. 
The  measure  was  carried  by  Peimsylvania  and  the  states  north 
of  it,  against  the  southern  states. 

The  expenses  of  the  year  1778,  so  far  as  they  were  defrayed 
by  congress,  amounted  to  sixty-two  and  a  sixth  millions  in 
paper  money,  besides  more  than  eighty-four  thoustiud  dollars 
in  specie.  Toward  the  expenses  of  the  coming  year,  nothing 
further  was  done  than  to  invite  the  states  to  contribute  fifteen 
millions  in  paj)er,  equal  hn  s-  -^^ie  to  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars;  but,  as  the  payments  depended  on  the  good-'W'ill  of 
each  separate  state,  very  little  of  this  moderate  assessment 
reached  the  national  treasury,  aud  there  was  no  resource  but 
in  new  emissions  of  notes  and  loan  certificates. 

Private  reports  from  American  refugees,  seeking  the  favor 
of  the  king  of  England,  persuaded  Germain  tliat  the  cause  of 
the  United  States  would  share  the  wreck  of  their  finances ;  but 
he  knew  not  how  to  conciliate  provinces  that  Avere  weary  of 
war,  nor  to  measure  the  tenacity  of  the  passive  resistance  of  a 
determined  people,  and  he  systematically  sought  to  subdue 
them  by  terror.     The  refugees,  emboldened  by  the  powerless- 
ness  of  congress  and  embittered  by  its  advice  to  the  several 
states  to  confiscate  their  property,  thronged  the  antechamber 
of  the  minister  to  fire  his  vengeful  passions  by  their  own.     In 
Xew  York  there  sprung  up  a  double  set  of  counsellors.     Clin- 
ton repressed  the  confidence  of  the  secretary  of  state  by  faith- 
ful reports  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  army :  on  the  other  hand, 
William  Franklin,  late  governor  of  New  Jersey,  aiming  at  the 
power  and  emoluments  to  be  derived  from  an  appointment  as 
the  head  of  a  separate  organization  of  loyalists,  proposed  as  no 
diflicult  task  to  reduce  and  retain  one  of  the  middle  provinces 
by  hanging  or  exiling  all  its  rebels,  and  confiscating  their  estates 
for  the  benefit  of  the  friends  to  govermnent.     Wiser  partisans 
of  Great  Britain  reprobated  "the  desire  of  continuing  the  war 
for  the  sake  of  v,'ar,"  and  foretold  that,  should  "  the  mode  of 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE. 


205 


devastation  ])0  acloi)te(l,  the  friends  of  government  must  bid 
adieu  to  all  hopes  of  ever  again  living  in  America." 

The  British  gained  numerous  reeraits  from  immigrants. 
Cultivated  men  of  the  Roman  church  gave  hearty  support  to 
the  cause  of  independence ;  hut  the  great  mass  of  its  mem- 
bers, who  wei-e  then  but  about  one  in  seventy-five  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  and  were  chiefly  new  comers  in  the 
middle  states,  followed  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  in  whose 
hands  the  direction  of  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  still 
remained,  and  who  cherished  hatred  of  France  for  her  share 
in  the  overthrow  of  their  order.  In  Philadelpliia  Howe  had 
been  able  to  form  a  regiment  of  rvomau  Catholics.  With  still 
better  success,  Clinton  courted  the  Irish  as  Irishmen.  They 
had  fled  from  rack-renting  landlords  to  a  country  which  offered 
them  freeholds.  By  flattering  their  nationality  and  their  sense 
of  the  importance  attached  to  their  numbers,  Clinton  allm-ed 
them,  alike  Catholics  and  Protestants,  to  a  combination  directly 
adverse  to  their  own  interests,  and  i-aised  for  Lord  Eawdon  a 
large  regiment  in  which  ofticers  and  men,  including  nearly  five 
hundred  deserters  from  the  American  army,  were  exclusively 
Irish. 

Yet  the  British  general  lagged  far  behind  the  requirements 
of  Ger.^ain,  who  counted  upon  ten  thousand  provincial  levies, 
and  wished  "  a  manner  of  war  better  calculated  to  make  the 
people  feel  their  distresses."  The  Idng  believed  that  "the 
colonies  must  soon  sue  to  the  mother  country  for  pardon." 
But  Clinton,  obeying  peremptory  instructions,  before  the  end 
of  the  year  most  reluctantly  detached  three  thousand  men  for 
the  conquest  of  Georgia,  and  ten  regiments  for  service  in  the 
West  Indies.  His  supplies  of  meat  and  bread,  for  which  he 
depended  on  Europe,  were  precarious ;  his  military  chest  was 
emi)ty ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  New  York,  mindful  of  the 
hour  when  the  city  would  be  given  up,  were  unwilling  to  lend 
hhn  their  specie.  "  I  do  not  complain,"  so  he  wrote  in  Decem- 
ber to  the  secretary  of  state ;  "  but,  my  lord,  do  not  let  anything 
be  expected  of  one  circumstanced  as  I  am." 

On  the  other  hand,  America,  notwithstanding  the  want  of 
efficient  govenmient,  set  no  narrow  bounds  to  its  aspirntiona, 
Samuel  Adams,  uttering  the  popular  sentiment,  wrote  from 


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J    'I' 


296      AMEUICA  IN  ALLfANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.iv.;  en.  xu. 

Philadelphiii :  "  I  Impo  wo  shall  secure  to  the  United  States 
Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  Florida  too,  and  the  lishery,  by  our 
arms  or  by  treaty.  Wo  shall  never  be  on  a  solid  footing  till 
Groat  Britain  cedes  to  us,  or  we  wrest  from  her,  what  nature 
designs  we  should  have." 

From  Boston,  d'Estaing,  in  the  name  of  his  kin"-    h-id 
6unnnoned  the  Canadians  to  throw  otl  Briti^ih  ride  ;  Lalayette 
in  December,   exhorted  "his  children,  the  savages  of  Cana' 
da,"  to  look  upon   the  English  as  their  enemies     Thus  en- 
couraged, congress,  without  consulting  a  single  military  man 
formed  a  plan  for  the  "  emancii)ation  of  Canada  "  in  co-opera- 
tion with  an   army   of  France.     One  American  detachment 
trora  1  ittsburg  was  to  capture  Detroit ;  another  from  Wyo- 
mmg,  Niagara;  a  third  from  the  Mohawk  river,  to  seize  Os- 
wego  ;  a  fourth  from  New  Enghmd,  by  way  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cis, to  cuter  Montreal ;  a  fifth  to  guard  the  approaches  from 
C^uebec  ;  ^vhlle  to  France  was  assigned  the  office  of  reducing 
Quebec  and  Halifax.    Lafayette  would  willingly  have  used  his 
influence  at  Versailles  in  favor  of  the  enterprise ;  but  Wa,ai- 
mgton  showed  how  far  the  part  reserved  for  the  United  States 
went  beyond  their  resources. 

The  spirit  of  independence  grew  in  strength.  In  almost 
all  parts  of  the  country  the  inhabitants  were  left  toplou^^h  and 
plant,  to  sow  and  reap,  without  fear.  On  the  plantattns  of 
V  .;ginia  the  abundant  products  of  labor  were  heaped  up  for 
exportation  along  the  banks  of  her  navigable  waters.  In  all 
New  England,  seed-time  and  harvest  had  not  failed  ;  and  the 
ports  of  Massachusetts  grew  opulent  by  commerce. 

For  want  of  a  government,  this  boundless  hope  of  a  young 
and  resolute  people  could  have  no  support  in  organized  forces'] 
The  army,  of  which  the  head-quartars  were  at  Middlebrook* 
was  encamped  for  the  winter  so  as  to  form  a  line  of  observa- 
tion and  defence  from  the  Connecticut  shore  of  Long  Island  ' 
Sound  to  the  Delaware.     For  the  convenience  of  forage,  the 
four  regiments  of  cavalry  were  distributed  among  the  states 
from  Connecticut  to  Virginia.     The  troops  were  hutted  as  at 
Valley  Forge  ;  they  suffered  extreme  distress  for  want  of  food ; 
but,  through  importations  from  France,  they  were  better  clad 
than  ever  before.     Officers  in  great  numbers  were  quitting  the 


I!  i: 


•J  I-' 


1778. 


AFTER  THE  FRENCn  ALLIANCE. 


297 

service  from  absolute  necessity,  and  tlioso  who  remained  were 
smkmg  into  poverty ;  wlu'le  the  men  grew  impatient  under  their 
privations  and  want  of  j)ay. 

And  yet  the  British  inado  no  progress  in  recovering  their 
colonies.  Incalculal.le  energy  lay  in  reserve  in  the  states  and 
in  their  citizens  individually.  Though  congress  possessed  no 
effective  moans  of  strengthening  the  regular  anny,  there  could 
always  be  an  appeal  to  the  militia,  who  were  the  people  in 
arms.  The  strength  of  patriotism,  however  it  might  seem  to 
slumber,  was  ready  to  break  forth  in  everv  crisis  of  dan-er 
The  people  never  lost  buoyant  self-relianeJ,  nor  the  readiness 
to  make  sacrifices  for  the  public  good. 

Congress  brought  forward  no  proposition   to  clotlie  the 
umon  with  powers  of  coercion,  and  by  choice  devolved  the 
chief  executive  power  upon  their  constituents.    To  the  separate 
states  It  was  left  to  enforce  the  embargo  on  the  export  of 
provisions  ;  to  sanction  the  seizure  of  grain  and  flour  for  the 
army  at  established  prices ;  to  furnish,  and  in  great  part  to 
support,  their  quotas  of  troops;    and  to  collect  the  general 
revenue,  so   far  as  its  collection  was  not  voluntary      Each 
state  government  was  dearer  to  its  inhabitants  than  the  general 
government;  the  one  was  excellent,  the  other  inchoate  and  in- 
competent.    The  former  was  sanctified  by  the  memories  and 
attachments  of  generations ;  the  latter  had  no  associations  with 
the  past,  no  traditions,  no  inherited  affection.     The  states  had 
power  which  they  exercised  to  raise  taxes,  to  pledge  and  keep 
faith,  to  establish  order,  to  administer  justice  through  able  and 
upright  and  learned  courts,  to  protect  liberty  and  property 
and  all  that  is  dear  in  social  Hfe ;  the  chief  acts  of  congress 
were  only  propositions  and  promises.     The  states  were  every- 
where  represented  by  civil  ofiicers  in  their  employ ;  congress 
had  no  magistrates,  no  courts,  no  executive  agents  of  its  own. 
1  lie  tendency  of  the  general  government  was  toward  utter 
helplessness ;  so  that,  not  from  intention,  but  from  the  natural 
course  of  political  development,  the  spirit  and  the  habit  of 
separatism  grew  with  every  year.     lu  eTuly  1776,  the  United 
states  declared  themselves  to  have  called  a  "people"  into 
being;  at  the  end  of  1778,  congress  knew  no  "])eople  of  the 
Imtcd  States  "but  only  "  inliabitauts."    The  name  of  "the 


,i        Uf  ,'-*        *  4 


2!}8      AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV.  ;  CII.  XIX. 


I 


i 


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Ihilli'l 


i- 


II 


is :  i;  ? 


ruitcd  States  "  began  to  give  place  to  that  of  "  the  Confed- 
erated States,"  even  before  tlie  jihrase  could  pretend  to  his- 
toric validity.  The  attempt  to  form  regiments  directly  by  the 
United  States  completely  failed ;  and  each  state  maintained  its 
separate  line.  There  were  thirteen  distinct  sovereignties  and 
thirteen  arnn'es,  Avith  scarcely  a  symbol  of  national  unity  except 
ill  the  highest  otHccs. 

From  the  heiglit  of  his  position,  ■^Yashington  was  tlie  first 
keenly  to  feel  and  clearly  to  declare  that  efficient  power  must 
be  infused  into  the  general  government.     To  Benjamin  Har- 
rison, the  president  of  the  house  of  bm-gesses  of  Virginia,  he 
wrote  from  tlie  camp  in  December  1778 :  «  The  states  sepa- 
rately are  too  much  engaged  in  their  local  concerns,  anxl  have 
too  many  of  their  ablest  men  withdrawn  from  the  general 
council  for  the  good  of  the  common  weal.     Our  political  sys- 
tem may  be  eomjiared  to  the  mechanism  of  a  clock,  and  we 
should  derive  a  lesson  from  it ;  for  it  answers  no  good  jiurpose 
to  keep  the  sn.aller  wheels  in  order  if  the  greater  one,  which 
is  the  support  and  prime  mover  of  the  whole,  is  neglected. 
If  the    great   whole  is   mismanaged,  the  states  individually 
must  sink  in  the  general  Avreck ;  in  effecting  so  great  a  revolu- 
tion, the  greatest  abilities  and  the  most  honest  men  our  Amcri- 
can  M'orld  alTords  ought  to  be  employed."     He  saw  "  America 
on  the  brink  of"  destruction;  her  "common  interests,  if  a 
remedy  were  not  soon  to  be  a-pplicd.  mouldering  and  6inkin'>' 
into   irretrievable    ruin."     "  Where,"  he  asked,  "  are  Mason^ 
Wythe,  Jeilerson,  Nicholas,  Pendleton,  Nelson,  and  another  I 
could  name  ? "     He  pleaded  for  "  the  momentous  concerns  of 
an   empire,"  for  "the  great  business  of  a  nation."     "The 
states,  separately,"  sucli  were  his  words,  "are  too  much  en- 
gaged in  tlicir  local  concerns ; "  and  ho  never  ceased  his  efforts, 
by  conversation  and  correspondence,  to  train  the  statesmen  of 
America,  especially  of  his  beloved  native  commonwealth,  to 
the  work  of  constructing  the  real  union  of  the  states. 


1778. 


SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN. 


11: 


299 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  KING  OF  8PAm  BAFFLEB   BY   THE   BACKWOODSMEN  OF 

VIRGESriA. 

1778-1779. 

The  Catholic  king,  whose  pubUc  debt  a  Wge  annual  d^ 
ficit  was  rapidly  increasing,  recoiled  from  war,  and,  above  alL 
from  a  war  which  was  leading  to  the  iiretrievable  ruin  of  the 
old  colonial  system. 

The  management  of  its  foreign  dependencies-colonies 
ley  could  not  properly  be  named,  nor  could  Spain  be  caUed 
their  mother  country-was  to  that  kingdom  an  object  of  never- 
Bleepmg  suspicion,  heightened  by  a  consciousness  that  the  ta.k 
of  govermng  them  was  beyond  its  abiUty.  The  total  number 
of  their  inhabitants  greatly  exceeded  its  own.  By  their  veT, 
extent,  embracing,  at  least  in  theory,  aU  the  Pacific  coast  7i 
America,  and  all  the  land  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  ^ 
Lomsiana,  it  could  have  no  secure  feeling  of  their  subordin^ 
tion.  The  remoteness  of  the  provinces  on  the  Pacific  still 
more  weakened  its  supremacy,  which  was  nowhere  coTfirmS 
bj  a  conimon  language  or  affinities  of  race  ;  by  the  joint  pos 

between  rulers  and  niled  was  one  of  force  alone:   and  the 
force  was  feeble  and  precarious.     Distrust  marked  the  pohcy 

t^^Z'Tr^"'^  :t  *'""'  ^'^^^  ^^ '''  '^^'^^  -^' 

oli  pmig  of  Spaniards  m  America  were  called.     No  attempt 

iiiough    lie   Roman  religion,  which  was  introduced  by  the 
sword  and  mamtained  by  methods  of  superstition.    TW  wt 
perhaps,^nev_er^a  time  when  the  war-cry  of  some  one  oflho 


SI. 


1 1 


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300        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV.  :  OH.  XX. 


'! 


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semi-barbarous  nations  who  formed  the  l^nlk  of  the  popula- 
tion was  not  somewhere  heard.  The  restraints  on  commerce 
provoked  murmurs  and  frauds. 

Moreover,  all  the  world  was  becoming  impatient  that  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  globe  should  be  monopolized  by  a  de- 
crepit dynasty.  The  Dutch  and  the  British  and  the  French 
sought  opportunities  of  illicit  trade.  The  British  cut  down 
forest-trees,  useful  in  the  workshop  and  the  dye-house,  and 
carried  them  off  as  unappropriated  products  of  nature. 

To  these  dangers  Charles  III.  had  added  another  by  mak- 
ing war  to  the  death  on  the  so  called  company  of  Jesus.  Of 
the  prelates  of  Spain,  seven  archbishops  and  twenty-eight 
bishops,  two  thirds  of  them  all  approved  the  exile  of  the 
order  from  his  dominions,  and  recommended  its  total  dissolu- 
tion ;  while  only  one  bishop  desired  to  preserve  it  wdthout 
reform.  With  their  concurrence,  and  the  support  of  France 
and  Portugal,  he  extorted  the  assent  of  the  pope  to  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  order.  On  the  second  of  April  1707,  at  one  and 
the  same  hour  in  Spain,  in  the  north  and  south  of  Africa, 
in  Asia,  in  America,  in  all  the  islands  of  the  monarchy,  the 
royal  decree  was  opened  by  officials  of  the  crown,  enjoining 
them  immediately  to  take  possession  of  its  houses,  to  chase  its 
members  from  their  convents,  and  within  twenty-four  hours 
to  transport  them  as  prisoners  to  some  appointed  harbor.  In 
Spain  the  Jesuit  priests,  without  regard  to  their  birth,  educa- 
tion, or  age,  were  sent  on  board  ships  to  land  where  tliey  could. 
The  commands  were  executed  less  perfectly  in  Mexico  and 
California,  and  still  less  so  along  the  South  Pacific  coast  and 
the  waters  of  the  La  Plata. 

But  the  power  of  Spain  in  America  had  rested  in  a  great 
measure  on  the  unwearied  activity  of  the  Jesuits  as  mission- 
aries and  teachers  and  organizers  of  the  native  population. 
Their  banishment  weakened  her  authority  over  Spanish  emi- 
grants, and  confused  the  minds  of  the  rude  progeny  of  the 
aborigines.  In  Paraguay,  where  Spanish  supremacy  had  rest- 
ed  alone  on  Jesuits  who  had  lield  in  their  hands  all  the  attri- 
butes of  Caesar  and  pope,  of  state  and  church,  the  revolution 
made  a  fracture  that  never  could  be  healed.  The  indepen- 
dence of  the  United  States  thrcuteued  a  very  real  danger  in 


v'\  r. 


1778. 


SPAIN  AND  -'^riE  BACKWOODSMEN. 


301 

aU  the  boundless  vice-royalties  of  Spain.  As  tbev  had  been 
won  by  adventurous  leaders,  so  a  priest,  an  aboriginal  chief  a 
descendant  of  an  Inca,  might  waken  any  of  them  to  defy  the 
Spanish  rule.  Jesuits  might  find  shelter  among  their  neo- 
phytes, and  reappear  as  the  guides  of  rebellion.  One  of  their 
order  has  written:  "When  Spain  tore  evangelical  laborers 
away  from  the  colonies,  the  breath  of  independence  agitated 

I;  ni',T,f''^^''^^  ^"^  ^^'^^^^<^  it  to  detach  iteelf  from 
the  Old."  * 

The  IJnited  States  did  not  merely  threaten  to  hold  the  left 
bank  of  the  Mississippi ;  but,  as  epidemic  disease  leaps  mysteri- 
ously over  mountains  and  across  oceans,  spores  of  discontent 
might  be  unaccountably  borne  to  the  many-tongued  peoples 
of  South  America.  Alluring  promises  of  weakening  Britain 
could  soothe  Florida  Elanca  no  more;  and,  from  the  time 
when  the  court  of  France  resolved  to  treat  with  the  Americans, 
his  prophetic  fears  were  never  allayed. 

Early  in  the  year  1778  Juan  de  Miralez,  a  Spanish  emis- 
sary appeared  in  Philadelphia.  Not  accredited  to  congress, 
for  Spam  would  not  recognise  that  body,  he  looked  upon  the 
rising  republic  as  a  natural  enemy  to  his  country ;  and  through 
the  French  minister,  with  whom  he  had  as  yet  no  authorized 
connection,  he  sought  to  raise  up  obstacles  to  its  progress 
He  came  as  a  spy  and  an  intriguer ;  nevertheless,  congress,  with 
unsuspecting  confidence,  welcomed  him  as  the  representative 
of  an  intended  ally. 

_  Count  Montmorin,  the  French  ambassador  at  Madrid,  had 
m  his  childhDod  been  a  playmate  of  the  king  of  France,  whose 
iriendship  he  retained.  As  a  man  of  honor,  be  desired  to  deal 
tuirly  with  the  United  States,  and  he  watched  with  impartially 
the  politics  of  the  Spanish  court.  On  learning  from  him  the 
separate  determination  of  France  to  support  the  United  States, 
IMonda  Blanca  quivered  in  every  limb  and  could  hardly  utter 
a  reply.  Ever  haunted  by  the  spectres  of  contraband  trade, 
and  of  territorial  encroachments,  he  was  appalled  at  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Americans  as  insurgents,  and  the  colossal  great- 

*  Charles  III.  et  le,s  J6suite8  de  ses  .5tat8  d'Europe  et  d'Am6rique  en  1767. 
wTt  k^tli''  ^"^""'  ^''  ^'  P-  ^"^"''^  ^''"'*^""  ^^  **  compagnie  de  Jeaus, 


li  »t 


!  it 


'    !i 


i      - 


I    11 


iii 


111 


I    i: 


^^!) 


'  f 


1.  i 

iii'  ill 


/;l 


11*1-: 


302        AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  oh.  xx. 

ness  which  their  independence  foretold.  "With  these  appre- 
hensions he  combined  a  subtle  jealousy  of  the  good  faith  of 
the  French,  who,  as  a  colonial  power,  were  reduced  to  the 
lowest  rank  among  the  nations  of  western  Europe,  and  who 
oould  recover  their  share  in  commerce  only  through  the  min 
of  colonial  monopoly. 

When,  in  j^pril,  the  French  ambassador  pressed  Florida 
Blanca  to  declare  at  what  epoch  Spain  would  engage  in  the 
war,  the  minister,  beside  himself  with  passion,  exclaimed :  "  I 
will  take  the  opinion  of  the  king.  Since  April  of  last  year 
France  has  gone  counter  to  our  advice.  The  king  of  Spain 
seems  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  viceroy,  to  whom  you  put  ques- 
tions as  if  for  his  opinion,  and  then  send  orders.  The  Ameri- 
can deputies  are  treated  like  the  Koman  consuls,  to  whom  the 
kings  of  the  East  came  to  beg  support.  The  announcement  of 
your  treaty  with  them  is  worthy  of  Don  Quixote."  The  first 
wish  of  Spain  was  to  prevent  the  self-existence  of  the  United 
States,  and,  as  mediator,  to  dictate  the  terms  of  their  accom- 
modation with  their  mother  country;  if  this  was  no  longer 
possible,  she  hoped  to  be  able  to  concert  in  advance  with  Eng- 
land how,  in  the  negotiation  for  peace,  to  narrow  their  domain 
and  erect  barriers  against  their  ambition.  No  sooner  had 
Louis  XVI.  and  his  council  resolved  to  brave  England  than 
they  made  it  their  paramount  object  to  reconcile  the  Spanish 
king  to  their  measures.  His  need  of  protection,  his  respect 
for  the  elder  branch  of  his  family,  and  some  remnants  of  ran- 
cor against  England,  concurred  to  bind  him  to  i..j  alliance  with 
France.  Moreover,  Florida  Blanca,  who  from  the  drudgery 
of  a  provincial  attorney  had  risen  to  be  the  chief  minister  of 
a  world-wide  empire,  had  a  passion  to  be  famous  in  his  own 
time  and  in  history,  and  was  therefore  willing  to  join  France 
in  the  war,  if  he  could  but  secure  Spain  against  the  United 
States.  Avoiding  an  immediate  choice  between  peace  and  war, 
he  demanded  the  postponement  of  active  hostilities  in  Euro- 
pean waters  that  he  might  gain  free  scope  for  treating  with 
England.  Britain  was  unprepared.  The  French  were  ready 
for  action ;  yet  they  consented  to  wait  for  Spain. 

To  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  fleet  at  Brest,  a  British 
fleet  of  twenty  ships  of  the  line  put  to  sea  under  Admiral 


1778.  SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN.  303 

Keppel,  so  well  known  to  posterity  by  the  pencil  of  Reynolds 
and  the  words  of  Burke.     On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  meet- 
ing two  French  frigates  near  the  island  of  Ouessant,  Keppel 
gave  orders  that  they  should  bring  to.     They  refused.     One  of 
them,  bemg  fired  into,  discharged  its  broadside  and  then  low- 
ered Its  flag ;  the  other  escaped.     The  French  government,  no 
longer  able  to  remain  inactive,  authorized  the  capture  of  Brit- 
ish merchantmen;  and  early  in  July  its  great  fleet  sailed  out 
ot  Brest.     Keppel   put  to  sea  once  more.     On  the  twenty 
seventh  the  two  admirals,  each  having  thiri;y  men-of-war  in 
three  divisions  and  each  professing  the  determination  to  fight 
a  decisive  battle,  met  off  Ouessant.    D'Orvilliei-s  was,  better 
fitted  for  a  monastery  than  for  the  quarter-deck ;  and  the  British 
admiral  wanted  abiHty  for  so  great  a  command.     After  an  in- 
significant action,  in  which  neither  party  lost  a  ship,  the  French 
returned  to  Brest,  the  British  to  Portsmouth.     The  French 
aJ-my  encamped  in  Normandy  under  the  Count  de  BrogUe  aa 
if  to  mvade  England,  and  wasted  the  season  in  cabals.    In 
India,  Chandernagor  on  the  Hoogley  surrendered  to  the  Eng- 
hsh  without  a  blow ;  the  governor  of  Pondicherry,  with  a  feeble 
garrison  and  weak  defences,  maintained  a  siege  of  seventy 
days  m  the  vain  hope  of  relief.     The  flag  of  the  Bourbons  dii 
appeared  from  the  gulf  and  sea  of  Bengal,  and  from  the  coast 
01  Malabar. 

Florida  Blanca  proposed  to  the  British  minister  at  Madrid 
to  obtam  a  cessation  of  hostilities  in  order  to  establish  and 
perpetuate  an  equilibrium  on  the  continent  of  America.  This 
wa3  an  oifer  to  secure  to  England  the  basin  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence with  the  territory  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  and  to  bound 
the  United  States  by  the  Alleghanies.  Lord  Weymouth  an- 
Bwered  that,  while  France  supported  the  colonies  in  rebellion, 
no  negotiation  could  be  entered  into;"  but,  as  both  Great 
britain  and  Spam  were  interested  in  preserving  colonial  de- 
pendency, he  invited  Spain  to  an  alHance. 

Spain  was  unprepared  for  war;  her  ships  were  pooriy 
anned ;  her  arsenals  ill  supplied  ;  and  few  of  her  naval  ofiicers 
were  skilful:  yet  Florida  Blanca  threw  out  hints  to  France 
that  he  would  in  October  be  ready  for  action,  If  she  would 
undertake  a  descent  into  England.     To  the  British  proposal  of 


:.  I 


1  I  >' 


J-  I- 


M 


i  i 


ji. 


3!     I  I 


304    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  oh.  xx. 

an  alliance  he  returned  a  more  formal  offer  of  mediation  be- 
tween the  two  belligerents,  with  the  avowal  that  the  king  of 
Spain  would  be  forced  to  choose  his  part  if  the  war  should  be 
continued. 

"Weymouth,  in  October,  warning  Spain  of  the  fatal  conse- 
quence to  the  Spanish  monarchy  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States,  put  the  proposal  aside.  Yet  Florida  Blanca 
continued  to  fill  the  courts  of  F  irope  with  the  declaration  that 
Spain  would  never  precede  England  in  recognising  the  sepa- 
rate existence  of  her  colonies. 

In  this  state  of  the  relations  between  the  three  great  powers, 
congress,  tired  of  the  dissensions  of  rival  commissioners,  on 
the  fourteenth  of  September,  with  the  cordial  approval  of  John 
Adams,  abolished  the  joint  commission  and  appointed  Franklin 
their  minister  plenipotentiary  at  the  court  of  France.  In  him 
the  interests  of  the  United  States  obtained  a  serene  and  wake- 
ful guardian,  who  penetrated  the  wiles  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, and  knew  how  to  unite  fidelity  to  the  French  alliance 
with  timely  vindication  of  the  rights  of  America. 

"  I  observe  with  pain,"  so  reported  Count  Montmorin  in 
October,  and  so  he  was  obliged  continually  to  report  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  house  of  Bourbon^  "  that  this  govern- 
ment singularly  fears  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  the  Amer- 
icans ;  and  will  be  much  inclined  to  stipulate  for  such  a  form 
of  independence  as  may  leave  divisions  between  England  and 
her  colonies."  To  this  end  Florida  Blauca  wished  England  to 
retain  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia,  that  they  might  prove  a  peren- 
nial source  of  quarrels  between  the  British  and  the  Americans. 
"  On  our  side,"  wrote  Yergennes  simultaneously,  "  there  will 
be  no  diflSculty  in  guaranteeing  to  England  Canada  and  all 
other  American  possessions  which  may  remain  to  her  at  the 
peace.  The  king  has  recognised  the  thirteen  provinces  as 
free  and  independent  states ;  for  them  we  ask  independence, 
but  without  comprehending  other  English  possessions.  We 
are  very  far  from  desiring  that  the  nascent  republic  Si.uuld 
remain  the  exclusive  mistress  of  all  that  immense  conti- 
nent." 

The  French  minister  at  Philadelphia  zealously  urged  mem- 
bers of  congress  to  renounce  every  ambition  for  an  increase  of 


;  I 


1778.  SPAIN   AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN.  305 

territory.  Gouvemeur  Morris  assented  to  the  necessity  of  a  law 
tor  setting  a  Hniit  to  American  dominion.  «  Our  empire  » 
said  Jay,  then  president  of  congress,  «is  already  too  great  to 
be  well  governed  ;  and  its  constitution  is  inconsistent  with  the 
passion  for  conquest ; "  and  as  he  smoked  his  pipe  at  the  house 
of  Gerard  he  warmly  commended  the  triple  alliance  of  France 
the  United  States,  and  Spain;  ' 

From  the  study  of  their  forms  of  goyernmcnt,  Yergennea 
represented  to  Spain  that  "there  was  no  ground  for  seeinc.  in 
this  new  people  a  race  of  conquerors.     Their  republic  »  he 
said,  "unless  they  amend  its  defects,  which  from  the  diversity 
and  even  antagonism  of  their  interests  appears  to  me  very  dif- 
hcult  will  never  be  anything  more  than  a  feeble  body,  capable 
of  httle  activity."     To  allay  the  fears  of  Florida  Blanca,  Ver- 
gennes,  m  October,  without  demanding  the  Hke  confidence  from 
.•^  am,  enumerated  as  the  only  conditions  which  France  would 
exact  for  herself  at  the  peace:  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  wholly 
continued  or  wholly  abrogated;  freedom  to  restore  the  harbor 
of  Dunquerque ;  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  from  Cape  Bona- 
vista  to  Cape  St.  John,  with  the  exclusive  fishery  from  Cape 
Bonavista  to  Point  Eiche.  ^ 

From  this  time  Florida  Blanca  was  in  earnest  in  wishing 
Spam  to  take  part  in  the  war.     But  his  demands,  in  compan^ 
son  with  the  moderation  of  France,  were  so  extravagant  that 
he  was  ashamed  himself  to  give  them  utterance;  and  in  No- 
vember, saying  that  the  king  of  Spain  could  not  be  induced 
to  engage  in  the  war  except  for  great  objecte,  he  requested 
Yergennes  to  suggest  to  him  the  advantages  which  France 
M-ould  bind  Itself  to  secure  to  Spain  before  listening  to  propo- 
sitions for  peace     To  Montmorin  he  verbally  explained  his 
denandsm  both  hemispheres.    As  to  Europe,  he  said :  "With- 
out (Tibraltar,  I  will  never  consent  to  a  peace."     "How  are 
you  to  gain  the  place?"  asked  Montmorin;  and  he  repHed- 
By  siege  it  is  hnpossible ;  Gibraltar  must  be  taken  in  Ireland 
or  in  England."     Montmorin  rejoined :  "  The  English  must  be 
leduced  very  low  before  they  can  cede  Gibraltar,  unless  the 
Spaniards  first  get  possession  of  it."     "  If  our  operations  suc- 
ceed    answered  Florida  I^lanca,  "England  will  be  compelled 
to  subscribe  to  the  law  that  we  shall  dictate."    At  the  same 


1  • 


1  i 


!     I 


W  I'll 

■' 

1 1 ,  I,  it  t 

r     III  II  1 


306        AMERIO;    IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  en.  xx. 

time  he  frankly  avowed  that  France  must  undertake  the  inva- 
sion of  Great  Britain  alone ;  even  the  junction  of  the  fleets  to 
protect  the  landing  must  be  of  sliort  duration. 

Early  in  February  1779,  Lafayette,  after  a  short  winter 
passage  from  Boston  to  Brest,  rejoined  his  family  and  friends. 
His  departure  for  America  in  the  preceding  year,  against  the 
command  of  his  king,  was  atoned  for  by  a  week's  exile  to 
Paris,  and  confinement  to  the  house  of  his  father-in-law.     The 
king  then  received  him  at  Versailles  with  a  gentle  reprimand ; 
the  queen  addressed  him  with  eager  curiosity :  "  Tell  us  good 
news  of  our  dear  republicans,  of  our  beloved  Americans." 
His  fame,  his  popularity,  the  influence  of  his  rank,  were  all 
employed   in  behalf  of  the  United  States.    Accustomed  to 
see  great  interests  sustained  by  small  means,  he  grudged  the 
prodigality  which  expended  on  a  single  festival  at  court  as 
much  as  would  have  equipped  the  American  army.     "To 
clothe  it,"  said  Maurepas,  "he  would  be  glad  to  strip  Ver- 
sailles."    He  found  a  ministry  neglecting  the  main  question 
of  American  independence,  and  half  unconscious  of  being  at 
war.     Public  opinion  in  France  had  veered  about,  and  every- 
body clamored  for  peace,  which  was  to  be  hastened  by  the 
active  alliance  with  Spain. 

All  the  while  the  Spanish  government,  in  its  intercourse 
with  England,  sedulously  continued  its  offers  of  mediation. 
Lest  its  ambassador  at  London  should  betray  the  secret,  he  was 
kept  in  the  dark.  Lord  Grantham,  the  British  ambassador  at 
Madrid,  was  completely  hoodwinked ;  and  wrote  home  in  Janu- 
ary 1779 :  "  I  really  believe  this  court  is  sincere  in  wishing  to 
bring  about  a  pacification."  At  the  end  of  March  the  king  of 
England  still  confided  in  the  neutrality  of  Spain.  Acting  from 
her  own  interests  alone,  Spain  evaded  the  question  of  Ameri- 
can independence,  and  offered  England  her  mediation  on  the 
basis  of  a  tnice  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  to  be  granted  by 
the  king  of  England  with  the  concurrence  of  Spain  and  France. 
This  offer  called  forth  the  most  earnest  expostulations  of  Ver- 
gennes,  till  Lord  "Weymouth  put  it  aside ;  for  he  held  that,  if 
independence  was  to  be  conceded  to  the  new  states,  it  must  be 
conceded  "directly  to  congress,  that  it  might  be  made  the 
basis  of  all  the  advantages  to  Great  Britain  which  so  desirable 


1778. 


SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN. 


307 


an  object  might  seem  to  bo  worth."  England,  in  establishing 
its  relations  with  America,  whether  as  dependencies  or  as  states, 
reserved  to  itself  complete  freedom. 

Meantime,  Vergcnnes,  on  the  twelfth  of  February,  for- 
warded  the  draft  of  a  convention  which  yielded  to  Spain  all 
that  she  required,  except  that  its  fourth  article  maintained  the 
independence  of  the  United  States.     "  In  respect  to  this,"  he 
wrote,  "our  engagements  are  precise,  and  it  is  not  possible  for 
us  to  retract  them.    Spain  must  share  them,  if  she  makes  com- 
mon cause  with  us."     Yet  the  article  was  persistently  cavilled 
at,  as  in  itself  useless,  and  misplaced  in  a  treaty  of  France 
^\•ith  Spain ;  and  Florida  Blanca  remarked  with  ill-humor  how 
precisely  the  treaty  stipulated  "  that  arms  should  not  be  laid 
down  "  till  American  independence  should  be  obtained,  while 
it  offered  only  a  vague  promise  "  of  every  effort »  to  procure 
the  objects  in  which  Spain  was  interested.    "  Efface  the  differ- 
ence," answered  Montmorin,  "  and  employ  the  same  expressions 
for  both  stipulations."    The  Spanish  minister  caught  at  the 
unwary  offer,  and  in  this  way  it  was  agreed  that  peace  should 
not  be  made  without  the  restoration  of  Gibraltar.     Fired  by 
the  prospect  which  now  opened  before  him,  the  king  of  Spain 
pictured  to  himself  the  armies  of  France  breaking  in  upon  the 
English  at  their  firesides ;  and  Florida  Blanca  said  to  Mont- 
morin :  "  The  news  of  the  rupture  must  become  first  known  to 
the  world  by  a  landing  in  England.     With  union,  secrecy,  and 
firmness,  we  shall  be  able  to  put  our  enemies  under  our  feet  • 
but  no  decisive  blow  can  be  struck  at  the  English  except  in 
England  itself." 

All  this  time  the  Spanish  minister  avoided  fixing  the  epoch 
for  joint  active  measures.  "  The  delay,"  said  Yergennes,  "  can 
be  attributed  only  to  that  spirit  of  a  pettifogger  which  formed 
the  essence  of  his  first  profession.  I  cry  out  less  at  his  repug- 
nance to  guarantee  American  independence ;  to  suitable  con- 
cessions from  the  Americans  we  assuredly  make  no  opposition." 
Discussing  with  Montmorin  the  article  relating  to  the 
Americans,  Florida  Blanca  said :  "  The  king,  my  master,  will 
never  acknowledge  their  independence,  until  the  English  them- 
selves shall  be  forced  to  recognise  it  by  the  peace.  He  fears 
the  example  which  he  should  otherwise  give  to  his  own  pos- 


I    I 


''Hiir 


i   >  Mill 

I!'!  I  I!' 

Iff] 


308       AMEUIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.;  on.  zx. 

sessions."  «  As  well  acknowl(Mlgo  tlieir  independenco  us  accord 
them  assistance,"  he-aii  JNfonti.K.nn  ;  but  the  niiuLster  cut  hhu 
short,  sayin- ;  "  Nothin-  will  come  of  your  iu«istincr  on  this 
article." 

Now  tliat  no  more  was  to  be  gained,  Florida  Llanca  made 
a  dratt  of  a  convention,  and  suddenly  presented  it  to  Mout- 
niorin.  A  few  verbal  corrections  were  agreed  upon,  and  on 
the  evenmg  of  the  twelfth  of  Ai)ril  the  treaty  was  signed 

By  Its  terms,  France  bound  herself  to  undertake  the  inva- 
sion of  Great  Britain  or  Ireland;  if  she  could  drive  the  British 
froni  Newfoundland,  its  fisheries  were  to  be  shared  only  with 
Spam.  For  trilling  benefits  to  be  acquired  for  herself  she 
promised  to  use  every  effort  to  recover  for  S])ain  Minorca 
Pensar^ola  and  JEobile,  the  bay  of  Honduras  and  the  coast  of 
Campeachy  ;  and  the  two  courts  bound  themselves  not  to  grant 
peace,  nor  truce,  uor  susj)ension  of  hostilities,  uutil  Gibraltar 
should  be  restored. 

This  convention  of  France  with  Spain  modified  the  treaty 
between  I  rauce  and  America.  The  Americans  were  not  bound 
to  continue  the  war  till  Gibraltar  should  be  taken ;  still  less,  till 
Spain  should  have  carried  out  a  policy  hostile  to  their  inter- 
ests ^  They  gamed  the  vight  to  make  peace  whenever  Great 
iJritaiu  would  recognise  their  independence. 

The  Mississi]>pi  river  is  the  guardian  kud  the  pledge  of 
he  umon  of  the  states  of  America.     Had  they  been  confined 
to  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanics,  there  would  have  been 
no  gcograijhical  unity  between  them,  and  the  thread  of  coniiec- 
1011  between  states  that  merely  fringed  the  Atlantic  must  soon 
have  beeu  sundered.     The  father  of  rivers  gathers  his  waters 
from  a    the  clouds  that  break  between  the  Alleghauies  and 
the  farthest  ranges  of  the  Hocky  Mountains.     The  rid-cs  ox 
the  eastern  chain  bow  their  heads  at  the  North  and  at 'the 
South;  so  that,  long  before  science  became  the  companion  of 
man  nature  herself  pointed  out  to  the  barbarous  races  that 
short  portages  join  his  tributary  rivers  to  those  of  the  Atlantic 
coast.     At  the  other  side,  his  mightiest  arm  interlocks  with 
arms  of  the   Oregon  and  the   Colorado,  and   marshals  high- 
ways to  the  Pacific.     As  from  the  remotest  springs  he  beai-s 
many  watere  to  the  bosom  of  the  oecau,  the  myriads  </f  Hags 


1778. 


SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMKN. 


809 


II; 


that  wave  above  tliem  are  the  ensigns  of  one  people.  States 
larger  tlian  Ivingrloins  flourish  where  he  passes;  an  J,  beneath 
Ills  step,  cities  start  into  being,  more  marvellous  in  their  reality 
than  the  fabled  creations  of  enchantment.  His  magnificent 
valley,  lying  in  the  best  part  of  the  tempemte  zone,  salubrious 
and  fertile,  is  the  chosen  nnister-ground  of  the  most  various 
flemoTits  of  human  culture  brought  together  by  men,  summoned 
from  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  and  joined  in  the 
bonds  of  common  citizenship  by  the  attraction  of  republican 
freedom.  Now  that  science  has  come  to  be  the  liousehold 
friend  of  trade  and  commerce  and  travel,  and  that  nature  has 
lent  to  wealth  and  intellect  the  use  of  her  constant  forces,  the 
hills,  once  walls  of  division,  are  scaled  or  pierced  or  levelled ; 
and  the  two  oceans,  between  which  the  republic  has  unassailably 
intrenched  itself  against  the  outward  world,  are  bound  together 
across  the  continent  by  friendly  links  of  iron. 

From  the  great  destiny  foretold  by  the  possession  of  that 
river  and  the  lands  which  it  drains,  the  Bourbons  of  Spain, 
hoping  to  act  in  concert  with  Great  Britain  as  well  as  France, 
would  have  shut  out  the  United  States  even  on  its  eastern 
side. 

While  the  absolute  monarch  of  the  Spanish  dominions  and 
his  minister  thought  to  exclude  the  republic  from  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  a  power  emerged  from  its  forests  to  bring  their 
puny  policy  to  nought.  An  enterprise  is  now  to  be  recorded 
which,  for  the  valor  of  the  actors^  their  fidelity  to  one  another, 
the  seeming  feebleness  of  their  means,  and  the  great  result  of 
their  hardihood,  remains  forever  memorable  in  the  history  of 
the  worid.  On  the  sixth  of  June  177G,  the  emigrants  to  the 
region  west  of  the  Louisa  river,  at  a  general  meeting  in  Ilar- 
rodston,  elected  George  Rogers  Clark,  then  midway  in  his 
twenty-fourth  year,  and  one  other,  to  represent  them  in  the 
assembly  of  Yirginia,  with  a  request  that  their  settlements 
might  be  constituted  a  county.  Before  they  could  cross  the 
mountains,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  had  declared  indepen- 
dence, established  a  government,  and  adjourned.  In  a  later 
session  they  were  not  admitted  to  seats  in  the  house ;  but  on 
the  sixth  of  December  177G  the  westernmost  r>art  of  the  state 
was  incorporated  by  the  name  of  « the  county  of  Kentucky." 


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310       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  ,v.  ;  en.  xx. 

As  Clark  on  his  return  dencendod  tlic  Ohio,  he  brooded  ov-t 
the  conquest  of  the  hmd  to  the  north  of  the  river.  In  the  muu- 
mer  of  1777  he  sent  two  young  liunters  to  reconnoitre  the 
French  villages  in  Illinois  and  on  tlic  AVabash. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1777  Clark  took  leave  of  the  woods- 
men of  Kentucky  and  departed  for  the  Eiist.     To  a  ft, 7  at 
Williamsburg,  of  whom  no  one  showed  more  persistent  zeal 
than  George  ^fason  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  he  proposed  a  se- 
cret  expedition  to  the  •Illinois.     Patrick  Henry,  the  governor 
made  the  plan  his  o^vn ;  and,  at  his  instance,  the  house  of  dele^ 
gates,  by  a  vote  of  which  "few  knew  the  intent,"  empowered 
hira  to  aid  "any  expedition  against  their  western  enemies" 
On  the  second  of  Jaimary  1778,  Clark  received  from  the  gov- 
ernor and  council  a  supply  of  money,  liberty  to  levy  troops  in 
any  county  of  Virginia,  and  written  and  verbal  instructions, 
clothing  him  with  large  discretionary  authority  to  attack  the 
British  dominion  on  the  Illinois  and  the  Wabash.     Hasteniuc. 
to  the  frontier,  he  established  recruiting  parties  from  the  head 
of  the  Ohio  to  the  Holston.     At  Redstone-old-fort,  with  the 
cordial  aid  of  Hand,  its  commander,  he  collected  boats,  light 
artillery,  and  ammunition.     It  was  probably  there  that  he  met 
with  Captain  William  Ilarrod  and  his  company.*    There  too 
he  was  overtaken  by  Captain  Leonard  Helm  of  Fauquier,' and 
by  Captala  Joseph  Bowman  of  Frederic,  each  with  less 'than 
half  a  company.     These  and  the  adventurers  of  his  own  enlist- 
ment, together  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  but  all  of  a 
hardy  race,  self-relying,  and  trusting  m  one  another,  he  was  now 
to  lead  near  a  thousand  miles  from  their  former  homes  against 
a  people  who  exceeded  them  in  number  and  were  aided  by 
merciless  tribes  of  savage  allies.     At  Fort  Kanawha,  in  May 
they  were  reinforced  by  Captain  O'llara  and  his  company.' 
On  the  day  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  they  glided  over  the  falls 
of  the  Ohio,  below  which  they  were  "joined  by  a  few  Keu- 
tuckians"  under  John  Montgomery.     On  the  twenty-sixth  of 
June,  Clark  and  his  companions,  Virginians  in  the  service  of 
Virginia,  set  off  from  the  falls,  and,  ^vith  oars  double- unarmed, 
proceeded  night  and  day  on  their  ever-memorable  enterprise. 
From    Detroit,  Hamilton,  the   lieutenant-governor,  sent 
*MS.  lueiuorauaum  of  L.  C.  Draper. 


y'' 


1778-1779.       SPAIN   AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN.  311 

abroad  along  the  American  frontier  parties  of  savages,  whoso 
reckless  cnielty  won  his  applause ;  and  ho  schemed  attempts 
against  the  "  rebel  forts  on  the  Ohio,"  relying  on  the  red  uv  of 
the  i)rairies  and  the  white  men  of  Vincemies.  The  reports  .cnt 
to  Germain  made  him  believe  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  settle- 
ment, though  "a  poor  people  who  thought  themselves  east  oil 
from  his  majesty's  ])rotection,  were  firm  in  their  allegiance  to 
defend  it  against  all  enemies,"  and  that  hundreds  in  Pittsburg 
remained  at  heart  attached  to  the  crown. 

On  the  invasion  of  Canada  in  1775,  Cark.,  n,  to  strengthen 
the  posts  of  Detroit  and  :N'iagara,  luid  withdra> .  1  the  smalflirit- 
ish  garrison  from  Kaskaskia,  and  the  government  was  left  in 
the  hands  of  Rocheblave,  a  Frenchman,  who  had  neither  troops 
nor  money.  "  I  wish,"  he  wrote  in  February  1778,  "the  na- 
tion might  come  to  know  one  of  its  best  possessions,  and  con- 
sent to  give  it  some  encouragement ;  and  he  entreated  Germain 
that  a  lieutenant-governor  might  be  despatched  with  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers  to  reside  in  Illinois. 

Apprised  of  the  condition  of  Kaskaslcia  by  a  band  of  hunt- 
ers,  Clark  ran  his  boats  into  a  creek  a  mile  above  Fort  Massac, 
reposed  there  but  for  a  night,  and  struck  across  the  hills  to  the 
great  praiiie.  On  the  treeless  plain  his  party,  "in  all  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty,"  could  be  seen  for  miles  around  by 
nations  of  Indians,  able  to  fall  on  them  with  tliree  times  their 
number ;  yet  they  were  in  the  highest  spirits ;  and  "  he  felt 
as  never  again  in  his  life  a  flow  of  rage,"  an  intercity  of  will 
a  zeal  for  action.  Approaching  Kaskaskia  on  the  fourth  of 
July  1778,  in  the  darkness  of  evening  he  sur]nised  the  town, 
and  without  bloodshed  seized  Rocheblave,  the  commandant. 
The  inhabitants  gladly  bound  themselves  to  fealty  to  the  Unit- 
ed States.  A  detachment  under  Eowman  was  despatched  to 
Kahokia,  and  received  its  submission.  The  people,  of  French 
origin  and  few  in  number,  were  averse  *a  the  dominion  of  the 
English ;  and  this  disaffection  was  confirmed  by  the  American 
alliance  with  the  land  of  their  ancestors. 

In  a  long  conference,  Gibanlt,  a  Catholic  piiest,  dissuaded 
Clark  from  moving  against  VHncennes.  His  own  ofF^r  of 
mediation  being  accepted,  he,  with  a  small  party,  repaired 
to  the  post;  and  its  people,  having  listened  to  his  explanation 


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312        AMERICA  m  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xx. 

of  the  state  of  affairs,  went  into  the  church  and  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  tlie  United  States.  Tlie  transition  from  the  condi- 
tion of  subjects  of  a  Idng  to  that  of  integral  members  of  a  free 
state  made  them  new  men.  Planning  the  acquisition  of  the 
whole  north-west,  they  sent  to  the  Indians  on  the  Wabash  five 
belts :  a  white  one  for  the  French ;  a  red  one  for  the  Spaniards ;  a 
blue  one  for  America ;  and  for  the  Indian  tribes  a  green  one  as  j'm 
offer  of  peace,  and  one  of  the  color  of  blood  if  thej  preferred 
war,  with  this  message :  "  The  king  of  France  is  come  to  life.  We 
desire  you  to  leave  a  very  wide  path  for  us  to  pass  through  your 
country  to  Detroit,  for  we  are  many  in  number  and  we  might 
chance  to  hurt  some  of  your  young  people  with  our  swords." 

To  dispossess  the  Americans  of  the  Illinois  country  and 
Yineennes,  on  the  seventh  of  October  Lieutenant-Governor 
Hamilton  left  Detroit,  with  regulars  and  volunteers,  and  three 
hundred  and  fifty  Avarriors  picked  by  their  chiefs  out  of  thir- 
teen different  nations.     On  the  seventeenth  of  December  he 
took  possession  of  Fort  Yineennes  without  opposition;  and  the 
mhabitants  of  the  town  returned  to  their  subjection  to  the 
British  king.      After  this  exploit  he  contented  himself  for 
the  winter  with  sending  out  parties;  but  he  announced  to  the 
Spanish  governor  his  purpose  early  in  the  spring  to  recover 
Illinois ;  and,  confident  of  receinng  reinforcements,  he  threat- 
ened that,  if  the  Spanish  officers  should  afford  an  asylum  to 
rebels  in  arms  against  their  lawful  sovereign,  he  would  invade 
their  territory  and  seize  the  fugitives. 

Hamilton  was  methodical  in  his  use  of  Indians.     He  gave 

standing  rewards  for  scalps,  but  offered  none  for  prisoners 

His  continuous  parties,  of  Indian  and  whit-,  volunteers,  spared 

neither  men  nor  women  nor  children.     In  the  coming  year  he 

promised  that  as  eariy  as  possible  all  the  different  nations, 

Ironi  the  Chickasas  and  Cherokees  to  the  Hurons  and  Five 

JSations,  should  join  in  the  expeditions  against  Yirginia;  while 

the  lake  Indians  from  Mackinaw,  in  conjunction  with  white 

men,  agreed  to  destroy  the  few  rebels  in  Illinois.     He  sent 

out  detachments  to  watch  Kaskaskia  and  the  falls  of  the  Ohio, 

and  to  intercept  any  boats  that  might  venture  up  that  river 

with  supplies  for  the  rebels.     He  never  doubted  his  abiHty  to 

reduce  all  Yirginia  west  of  the  mountaiua. 


hii. 


313 


1779.  SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN. 

.   I^  1/'^.^.  danger  hovered  from  every  quarter  over  Clark  and 
Ins  party  m  Illinois.     He  had  not  received  a  single  line  from 
the  governor  of  Virginia  for  near  twelve  months ;  his  force  was 
too  small  to  stand  a  siege;  his  position  too  remote  for  assist- 
ance.    By  his  orders,  BoAvman  of  Kentuckv  joined  him  after 
evacuating  the  fort  at  Kahokia,  and  preparations  were  made 
for  the  defence  of  Kaskaskia.     Just  then  Francis  Vigo    by 
birth  an  Italian  of  Piedmont,  a  trader  of  St.  Louis,  arrived 
from  Vmcennes  ana  gave   information  that   Hamilton  had 
weakened  himself  by  sending  out  hordes  of  Indians;  that  he 
had  not  more  than  eighty  soldiers  in  garrison,  nor  more  than 
three  pieces  of  cannon  and  some  swivels  mounted;  but  that  he 
intended  to  collect  in  spring  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to 
clear  the  west  of  the  Americans  before  the  fall. 

With  a  courage  as  desperate  as  his  situation,  Clark  re- 
solved  to  attack  Hamilton  before  he  could  call  in  his  Indians 
On  the  fourth  of  February  he  despatched  a  small  galley' 
mounting  two  four-pounders  and  four  swivels,  and  carryin./a 
ec^mpany  of  men   and  military  stores  under  Captain  Jolin 
Rogers  witli  orders  to  ascend  the  Wabash,  take  a  station  a 
few  miles  below  Vincennes,  suffer  nothing  to  pass,  and  await 
further  instructions.     Of  the  young  men  of  Illinois,  thirty 
volunteered   to  be  the  companions  of  Clark;    the  rest  he 
unbodied  to  garrison  Kaskaskia  and  guard  the  different  towns 
On  the  seventh  of  February  he  began  his  march  across  the 
country  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  men.     The  inclemency 
of  the  season,  high  water,  and  "the  drowned  lands"  of  the 
Wal)ash  river,  which  they  were  forced  to  pass  through,  threat- 
ened them  with  niin. 

At  this  time  Hamilton  was  planning  murderous  expedi- 
tions. He  wrote :  "  Next  year  there  will  l)e  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  savages  on  the  frontier  that  has  ever  bJen  known  as 
the  Six  Nations  have  sent  belts  around  to  encourage  theii 
allies,  Avho  have  made  a  general  alliance." 

On  the  twenty-third,  just  at  evening,  Clark  and  his  com- 
paiuons  reached  dry  land,  and,  making  no  delay,  with  a  white 
«ag  Hying,  they  entered  Vincennes  at  the  lower  end  of  the  vil- 
lage  The  town  surrendered  without  resistance,  and  assisted 
III  the  siege  of  the  fort,  which  was  immediatclv  invested.    The 


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314       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Ep.  IV. ;  ou.  XX. 


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moon  was  new,  and  in  the  darkness  Clark  threw  up  an  in- 
trencliment  within  rifle-shot  of  the  fort.  Under  this  protection 
the  riflemen  silenced  two  pieces  of  cannon,  and,  before  the 
close  of  the  twenty-fourth,  Hamilton  and  his  garrison  surren- 
dered as  prisoners  of  war. 

A  large  supply  of  goods  for  the  British  force  was  on 
its  way  from  Detroit.  Sixty  men,  despatched  by  Clark  in 
boats  well  mounted  with  swivels,  surprised  the  convoy  forty 
leagues  up  the  river,  and  made  a  prize  of  the  whole,  taking 
forty  prisoners.  The  joy  of  the  men  of  the  North-w  ^  was 
completed  by  the  return  of  their  messenger  from  Viiginia, 
bringing  from  the  house  of  assembly  its  votes  of  October  and 
November  1778  establishing  the  county  of  Illinois,  and  "  thank- 
ing Colonel  Clark  and  the  brave  officers  and  men  under  his 
command  for  their  extraordinary  resolution  and  perseverance, 
and  for  the  important  services  which  they  had  thereby  rendered 
their  country." 

Since  the  time  of  that  vote  they  had  undertaken  a  far  more 
hazardous  enterprise,  and  had  obtained  permanent  '-possession 
of  all  the  important  posts  and  settlements  on  the  lUinois  and 
Wabash,  rescued  the  inhabitants  from  British  dominion,  and 
estabhshed  civil  government"  in  its  rcpubhcan  form. 

The  conspiracy  of  the  Indians  embraced  those  of  the  South. 
Eariy  in  the  year  1770,  Cherokees  and  warriors  from  every 
hostile  tribe  south  of  the  Ohio,  to  the  number  of  a  thousand, 
assembled  at  Chickamauga.     To  restrain  their  ravages,  which 
had  extended  from  Georgia  to  Pennsylvania,  the  governments 
of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  appointed  Evan  Shelby  to 
comuiand  about  a  thousand  men,  called  into  service  chiefly 
from  the  settlers  beyond  the  mountains.     To  these  were  added 
a  regunent  of  twelve-months  men  that  had  been  enlisted  for 
the  reinforcement  of  Clark  in  Illinois.     Their  supplies  and 
means  of  transportation  were  due  to  the  unwearied  and  unsel- 
fish exertions  of  Isaac  Shelby.     In  the  middle  of  April,  em- 
barking in  pirogues  and  canoes  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Creek, 
they  de.-^cended  the  river  so  rapidly  as  to  surprise  the  savages, 
who  fled  to  the  hills  and  forests.     They  were  pursued,  and 
some  of  their  warriors  fell ;  their  towns  were  bm-nt,  their  fields 
laid  waste,  .md  their  cattle  driven  away. 


1779. 


SPAIN  AND  THE  BACKWOODSMEN. 


315 


^  For  the  rest  of  the  year  1779  tlie  western  settlements  en- 
joyed peace;  and  the  continuous  ilow  of  emigration  through 
tlie  mountains  to  Kentucky  and  the  country  on  the  Ilolston 
50  strengthened  t].em,  that  they  were  never  again  in  danger  of 
hemg  broken  up  by  any  aUiance  of  tlie  savages  with  the  Brit- 
ish, lie  prowess  of  the  people  west  of  the  Aileghaiiies,  where 
negro  slavery  had  not  yet  been  introduced  and  every  man  was 
in  the  full  possession  of  a  wild  but  self-restrained  liberty  iitted 
them  for  self-defence.  In  this  year  James  Kobertson,  with  a 
band  of  hunters,  took  possession  of  the  surpassingly  fertile 
country  on  the  Cumberland  river. 

The  regiment  designed  for  the  support  of  Clark  had  been 
diverted  and  thus  the  British  gained  time  to  reinforce  and 
fortify  Detroit.  But  Jefferson,  then  .governor  of  Virginia 
gave  instructions  to  occupy  a  station  on  the  Mississippi,  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  the  ])arallel  of  thirty-six  degrees 
thirty  minutes ;  and,  in  the  s])ring  of  1780,  Clark,  choosing  a 
strong  and  commanding  situation  five  miles  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  estabhshed  Fort  Jefferson  as  the  watch  on  the 
father  of  rivers. 

In  the  summer  of  1778,  news  was  received  of  the  conquest 

w-   •"  ^f;:;'V'?^""'"*'  ^"  *^'"  ^''''''  ^Ji^^«isBippi.     James 
\\  illmg  of  Fhiladelphia,  a  captain  in  the  service  of  the  United 

btates,  left  that  city  with  about  twenty-seven  men,  who  grew 
to  be  more  than  a  hundred  at  Fort  Fitt  and  on  the  rivers.  On 
the  evening  of  the  nineteenth  of  Febniary  1778,  they  arrived 
at  the  J^atchez  landing,  and  early  the  next  morning  sent  out 
several  ])arties,  who  almost  at  the  same  moment  made  the  in- 
luibitants  pnscniers  of  war  on  parole,  hoisted  the  colors  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  tlieir  name  took  possession  of  the  coun- 
try. The  British  agents,  who  had  taken  pai-t  in  stimulating 
the  south-western  savages  to  prowl  on  the  American  frontiers 
e8ca])ed  in  tei-ror  and  in  haste.  ' 

The  friendly  planters,  left  unprotected  and  fearing  the  con- 
tiscation  of  their  property,  proposed  terms  of  accommodation, 
which  Willing  readily  accepted.  On  the  twenty-first,  they 
formally  promised  on  their  j.art  in  no  way  to  give  assistance  to 
the  enemies  of  America,  and  in  return  received  the  assurance 
of  Protoction  during  their  neutrality.     From  this  agreement 


;'!  ^  f 


■1i  '.li  1. 


*'  fB 


Ui 


■y 


ill 


I  i 


316       AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FEANCE. 


EP.  IT.  ;  CH.  XX. 


were  excepted  all  public  officers  of  the  crown  of  Great  Britain. 
The  property  of  British  officers  and  non-residents  was  con- 
fiscated, and  all  the  eastern  side  of  the  river  was  cleared  of 
loyalists. 

From  Pittshnrg  and  Kaskaskia  to  the  Spanish  boundary  of 
Florida  the  United  States  in  1779  were  alone  in  possession  of 
the  Ohio  and  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Could  Charles 
III.  of  Spain  stop  the  onward  wave  of  the  backwoodsmen? 
The  legislature  of  Virginia  put  on  record  that  "Colonel 
George  Rogers  Clark  planned  and  executed  the  reduction  of 
the  British  posts  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,"  and  it 
granted  "two  hundred  acres  of  land  to  every  soldier  in  his 
corps."  "The  expedition,"  wrote  Jefferson,  "will  have  an 
important  bearing  ultimately  in  establishing  our  north-western 
boundai-y." 


pi'      ' 
Ml      ' 


W^  ^  m 


1779. 


THE  TREATY  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN. 


317 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  ™^ATV  BKXWEKK  .KAKCE   AM.    SPAm.      kEFOBMS  m 
VIBGINIA.      PEOGEESS   OF   THE   WAE. 

1779. 

The  alliance  With  France  gave  to  the  United  States  a 
respite  from  active  war;  but  the  forced  acceptance  of  tr^ 
deemable  paper  money  as  legal  tender  necessarily  wrecked 
pubhc  credit  and  impaired  private  contracts  and  debts.  The 
Bntish  officials  had  circulated  counterfeits  so  widely  that  con- 
gress, m  January  1779,  was  compelled  to  recall  two  sepamte 
emissions,  each  of  five  miUions.  The  want  of  a  central  power 
paj-alyzed  every  effort  at  an  organization  of  the  strength  of  The 

l^ft"  'T'^'f''^'^  ^^tl^  congress.  Fort  Niagara  and 
Do  io.t,  as  well  as  New  York  city,  were  in  the  possession  of 
Bn tarn  ;  yet  all  agreed  that  the  country  must  confine  itself  to 
a  defensive  campaign. 

Even  a  defensive  campaign  wa.  attended  with  difficulties. 
To  leave  the  officers,  by  the  depreciation  of  the  currency 

XSc"""^  'IT''  ^^^^™^^^^^^  -*^  decent  cloS 
and  .ubs  stence,  augured  the  reduction  of  the  army  to  a  shadow 

Few  of  chem  were  wiUing  to  remain  on  the  exisdng  establl 

ment  a,id  congress  was  averse  to  promising  pensions  to  them 

01  to  heir  widows.     To  each  of  the  rank  and  file  who  would 

Slid"  1 1  ?/'^  ""  ''  '^^^^^^  ''  ^-  hundred  dill' 
fll  «^<1  «J««ung,  waa  offered ;  while  those  who  had  in 

mmdred  dollars.     Yet  ^H  ttt^vI'Mi'st-.  i •        ■    ■,       -      - 

oamostness  of  the  people'  "  ™''        ""■  ""* 


tUl 


■•I 


It 

1    : 

1 

i  1   , 

■ 

)i   ' 

: 

;i ! 

' 

!   ij    t  '  ;  ' 

5       i 


!       M 


-) 


■I  !! 


318      AMERICA  IX  ALLIAXCE  WITH  FRANCE,     eimv.;  oh.  xxi. 


it 


''i 


U  , 


;M  ' 


Congress  never  liad  any  power ;  now  its  autliority  was  ex- 
hausted, and  it  could  do  nothing  but  appeal  to  the  states. 
Tardily  in  March  it  voted  that  the  infantry  should  con- 
sist of  eighty  battalions,  of  which  eleven  were  assigned  to 
Pennsylvania,  as  many  to  Virginia,  and  fifteen  to  Massachu- 
setts. No  state  furnished  its  whole  quota ;  Massachusetts 
more  nearly  than  any  other.  In  addition  to  the  congressional 
bounty,  New  Jersey  paid  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  each 
of  her  recruits.  Often  in  Massachusetts,  sometimes  in  Vir- 
ginia, levies  were  raised  by  di-aft. 

Four  years  of  hard  service  and  of  reflection  had  ripened  in 
"Washington  the  conviction  of  the  need  of  a  truly  efficient  gen- 
eral government.  To  James  "VYarreu,  speaker  of  the  house 
of  representatives  of  ^fassuchusetts,  he  made  appeals  for  the 
eubordniation  of  every  seliish  interest  to  the  good  of  what  he 
called  "  om*  common  country,  America ; "  "  our  noble  cause, 
the  cause  of  mankind."  To  the  men  of  Virginia  he  addressed 
liimself  more  freely.  To  one  of  them  he  wrote:  "Our  af- 
fairs are  come  to  a  crisis ;  unanunity,  disinterestedness,  and 
perseverance  in  our  national  duty  are  the  only  means  to  avoid 
misfortunes."  Before  the  end  of  March,  hi  a  letter  "  sent  by 
a  private  hand,"  he  drew  the  earnest  thoughts  of  George 
Mason  to  the  ruin  that  was  coming  upon  the  comitry  from 
personal  selfishness  and  provincial  separatism :  "  I  have  seen 
without  despondency,  even  for  a  moment,  the  hours  Avhich 
America  has  styled  her  gloomy  ones ;  but  I  have  beheld  no 
day,  since  the  commencement  of  liostilities,  that  I  have  thought 
her  hbertieo  in  such  eminent  danger  as  at  present.  Friends 
and  foes  seem  now  to  combine  to  pull  down  the  goodly  fabric 
we  have  been  raising  at  the  expense  of  so  much  time,  blood, 
and  treasure.  Indeed,  we  seem  to  be  verging  so  fast  to  de- 
struction that  I  am  filled  with  sensations  to  which  I  have  been 
a  stranger  till  within  these  three  months.  I  cannot  refrain 
lamenting  m  the  most  poignant  terms,  the  fatal  policy,  too 
prevalent  in  most  of  the  states,  of  employing  their  ablest  men 
at  home  in  posts  of  honor  and  profit  till  the  gi-eat  national  in- 
terest is  fixed  upon  a  sohd  basis."  He  repeated  the  illustra- 
tion which  he  had  already  used  with  Harrison,  sliowing  how 
completely  he  had  thought  out  the  proper  relations  of  the  unioi 


;  'I! 


1779.      THE  TREATY  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN.       310 

to  the  states  by  adliering  to  the  words  in  wliich  he  had  formu- 
lated them:  «To  me  it  appears  no  unjust  simile  to  compare  the 
alfairs  of  this  great  continent  to  the  mechanism  of  a  clock 
each  state  representing  some  one  or  other  of  its  smaller  pai-ts 
which  they  are  endeavoring  to  put  in  fine  order,  without  con^ 
sidcring  how  useless  and  unavailing  their  labor  is  unless  the 
great  u:heel  or  spring  which  is  to  set  the  whole  in  motion  is 
also  weU  attended  to  and  kept  in  good  order.     As  it  is  a  fact 
too  notorious  to  be  concealed,  that  congress  is  rent  by  party' 
no  man  who  wishes  well  to  the  liberties  of  his  country  and 
desires  to  see  its  rights  established  can  avoid  crying  out  Where 
are  our  men  of  abilities  ?    Why  do  they  not  come  forth  to 
save  their  country  ?    Let  this  voice,  my  dear  sir,  call  upon  you, 
Jefferson,  and  others.     Do  not,  from  a  mistaken  opinion,  U 
our  hitherto  noble  struggle  end  in  ignominy.     Believe  me 
when  I  tell  you  there  is  danger  of  it,"  *  ' 

In  May  he  wrote  to  another  friend :  "  I  never  was  and 
much  less  reason  have  I  now  to  be^  afraid  of  the  enemy's 
anns ;  but  I  have  no  scruples  in  declaring  to  you  that  I  have 
never  yet  seen  the  time  in  which  our  affairs,  in  my  opinion 
were  at  as  low  an  ebb  as  at  the  present ;  and,  without  a  sj^eedy 
and  capital  change,  we  shall  not  be  able  to  call  out  the  re- 
sources of  the  country." 

_  Count  d'Estaing  was  filled  with  the  idea  of  a  joint  expedi- 
tion of  his  fleet  and  the  American  troops  "to  give  to  the  king 
of  France  Halifax  and  Newfoundland."  f  To  consult  on  this 
subject,  Gerard,  in  the  first  days  of  May,  accepted  an  invita- 
tion from  Washington  to  visit  him  in  his  camp.  It  was  not 
possil)le  for  the  United  States  to  fumi^.h  a  force  sufficient  to 
conquer  and  garrison  Newfoundland;  but  on  his  return  from 
the  camp  the  minister  wrote  to  Count  Yergennes :  "I  have 
had  many  conversations  with  General  Wiwhington,  some  of 
which  have  continued  for  three  hours.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  briefly  to  communicate  the  fund  of  intelligence  which  I 

*  Washington  to  GoorRo  Mason,  Middlcbrook,  27  March  1779.     The  text  fol 

0W8  the  copy  I  „mde  from  the  draft  which  was  carefully  prepared  by  Washing- 

ton  with  lusmvn  hand.     The  letter  is  cited  in  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington, 

1.,  -91  i  and  IS  printed  from  the  papers  of  George  Mason,  in  the  Virginia  Uistori- 

cal  Kegister,  v.,  95.     See  above,  p.  298. 

f  Gerard  to  Vergennes,  6  May  1779. 


»  1',  1 


t 


111 


'  f 


rm. 


I 


I 


kk  I 


l*W4i-;- 


t     -,  ^  - » 

'*.    If  I 
ii    ■ 


I 


u:   ,.i^i.     ^rn 


\L'  1 


n 


n;  ti 


i  1.1 


lUi 


320      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.  ;  on.  xxi. 

have  derived  from  him,  but  I  sluill  do  it  in  raj  letters  as  occa- 
sions shall  present  themselves.  I  will  now  say  only  that  I  have 
formed  as  high  an  opinion  of  the  powers  of  his  mind,  his  mod- 
eration, his  patriotism,  and  his  virtues,  as  I  had  before  from 
common  report  conceived  of  his  military  talents  and  of  the 
incalculable  services  he  has  rendered  to  his  country."  * 

At  this  time,  while  congress  was  lulling  itself  into  the 
belief  that  hostilities  were  near  their  end,  th(i  special  treaty  be- 
tween France  and  Spain  was  exposing  America  to  new  dangers. 
For  Spain  as  well  as  for  France  the  French  envoy  to  the 
United  States  conducted  with  congress  a  negotiation  on  the 
ultimate  terras  upon  which  the  United  States  would  be  ready 
to  make  peace,  and  was  specially  connnauded  to  mould  them 
into  a  form  acceptable  to  S^jain.  So  long  as  France  stood  alone, 
Vergennes  had  been  willing  that  the  United  States  should 
treat  with  Great  Britain  on  the  basis  of  a  simple  recognition 
of  American  independence ;  but  after  the  understanding  with 
Spain  he  required  America  "  to  declare  distinctly  and  roundly 
that  it  will  listen  to  no  proposition  unless  it  has  for  its  base 
peace  with  France  as  well ; "  and,  on  the  report  of  an  able 
committee,  among  whom  were  Samuel  Adams  and  Jay,  con- 
greii-.,  on  the  fourteenth  of  January  IT'79,  resolved  imanimously 
"that  as  neither  France  nor  these  United  States  may  of  right, 
so  they  will  not,  conclude  either  truce  or  peace  with  the  com- 
mon enemy  without  the  formal  consent  of  their  ally  first 
obtained." 

This  point  having  been  gained,  the  envoy  of  France  held 
up  to  America  the  desire  to  include  Spain  in  a  triple  alliance 
against  Great  Britain,  and  for  that  end  to  induce  the  United 
States  to  shape  their  conditions  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  French  and  Spanish  mon- 
archs.  The  conditions  on  which  it  was  difficult  to  agree  re- 
lated to  boundaries  and  to  the  fisheries.  For  Massachusetts  the 
fisheries  had  been  the  great  and  peculiar  source  of  wealth  in 
return  for  small  outlays  of  capital,  and  to  put  this  industry  at 
hazard  seemed  to  that  state  like  perilling  its  prosperity. 

With  regard  to  the  fisheries  no  uniform  rule  had  as  yet 
been  so  settled  by  public  law  as  to  control  treaties.    By  the 
*  Gerard  to  Vergennes,  4  May  17V9;  Sparks's  Washington,  vl,  241,  note. 


Nil 


hV 


1779,      THE  TREATY  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN.       32I 

treaty  of  Utreclit,  France  agreed  not  to  fisli  witliin  thirty 
leagues  of  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia;  and  by  that  of  Paris,  not 
to  lish  within  fifteen  leagues  of  Cape  Breton.    New  England 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  had,  as  a  punitive  measure,  been 
debarred  by  act  of  pai-liament  from  fishing  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland.     What  right  of  legislation  respecting  them 
would  remain  at  the  peace  to  the  parliament  of  England^ 
"The  fishery  on  the  high  seas,"  so  Ycrgennes  always  ex- 
pounded the  law  of  nations,  "  is  as  free  as  the  sea  itself,  and 
it  is  superfluous  to  discuss  the  right  of  the  Auacricans  to  it. 
But  the  coast  fisheries  belong  of  right  to  the  proprietary  of  the 
coast.     Therefore  the  fisheries  on  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland, 
of  Nova  Scotia,  of  Canada,  belong  exclusively  to  the  English ; 
and  the  Americans  have  no  pretension  whatever  to  share  in 
them."    But  the  Americans  had  hitherto  almost  alone  engaged 
in  the  fisheries  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  and  in  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence.     The  New  England  men  had  planned  and  had 
alone  furnished  land  forces  for  the  first  reduction  of  Cape  Bre- 
ton, and  had  assisted  in  the  acquisition  of  Nova  Scotia  and 
Canada.     The  men  of  Massachusetts  therefore  claimed  the 
fisheries  on  their  coasts  as  a  perpetual  joint  property.    Against 
this  Yergennes  argued  that  the  conquest  had  been  made  for 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain ;  and  that  the  New  England  men, 
by  chosing  to  be  no  longer  the  subjects  of  that  crown,  re- 
nounced all  right  to  the  coast  fisheries. 

To  persuade  congress  to  propitiate  Spain  by  conceding  all 
her  demands,  the  French  envoy  sought  interviews  with  its 
newly  appointed  committee  on  foreign  affairs,  which  was  com- 
posed of  one  from  each  state ;  and  insisted  with  them  on  the 
relinquishment  of  the  coast  fisheries,  and  of  the  left  bank  and 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  It  was  answered  that  the 
land  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  was  already  colonized  and  held 
l)y  Americans.  He  rejoined  that  personal  considerations  must 
give  way  to^  the  general  interests  of  the  republic ;  that  the 
king  of  Spain,  if  he  engaged  in  the  war,  would  have  equal 
rights  mth  the  United  States  to  acquire  territories  of  the  king 
of  England;  that  the  persistence  in  asserting  a  right  to  estab- 
lishments  on  the  Ohio  and  the  Illinois,  and  at  Natchez,  would 
exhibit  an  unjust  desire  of  conquest ;  that  such  an  acquisition 


.i 


•1 


>. '. ' 


I  i  I 

n  .i  1 

.:  ri 

I  1 


322      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  on.  xxi. 


H 


Vf 


H 


was  foreign  to  the  principles  of  the  Amoriean  ollianco  witli 
I'^VAtice,  and  of  tlie  sj.stein  of  union  between  France  and  Spain, 
as  well  as  inconsistent  with  the  interests  of  the  latter  power ; 
and  he  formally  declared  "  that  his  king  would  not  i)rolong 
the  war  one  single  day  to  secure  to  the  United  States  the  pos- 
sessions whicli  they  coveted." 

"  Besides,  the  extent  of  their  territory  rendered  already  a 
good  administration  difllcult ;  so  enormous  an  increase  would 
cause  their  immense  empire  to  cnunble  under  its  own  weio-ht." 
Gerard  terminated  his  very  long  ccmversation  by  declaring  the 
strongest  desire  "  that  the  United  States  might  never  be  more 
than  thirteen." 

On  the  fifteenth  of  February,  Gerard  in  a  private  audience 
represented  to  congress  that  the  price  which  Spain  put  upon 
her  friendship  was  Pensacola  and  the  exclusive  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi ;  if  her  wishes  were  not  complied  with,  there 
was  danger  that  Spain  and  England  might  make  common 
cause  against  America. 

Two  days  after  this  private  interview  congress  referred  the 
subject  of  tlie  terms  of  peace  to  a  special  committee  of  five, 
composed  of  Gouverneur  ]VIorris  of  New  York,  Burke  of 
North  Carolina,  Witherspoon  of  New  Jersey,  Samuel  Adams 
of  Massachusetts,  and  Smith  of  Virginia. 

On  the  twenty-third  the  committee  reported  their  opinion 
that  the  king  of  Spain  was  disposed  to  enter  into  aii  alliance 
with  the  United  States,  and  that  consequently  independence 
must  bo  finally  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain.  This  being 
effected,  they  proposed  as  their  ultimatum  that  their  territory 
should  extend  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississip])i,  from  the 
Floridas  to  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia ;  that  the  right  of  fishing 
and  curing  fish  on  the  banks  and  coasts  of  Newfoundland 
should  belong  ec^ually  to  the  United  States,  France,  and  Great 
Britain ;  and  that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  should  be 
free  to  the  United  States  down  to  their  sonthern  boundary, 
with  the  benefit  of  a  free  port  l^elow  in  the  Spanish  dominions. 
Congress,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the  nineteenth  of 
March  agreed  substantially  to  the  report  on  boundaries,  yet 
with  an  option  to  adopt  westward  from  Lake  Ontario  the 
parallel  of  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  latitude.     It  was  readily 


1770.    THE  TREATY  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN.        323 

agreed  by  ten  states  against  Pennsylvania,  New  Ilampsliire  and 
Connecticut  being  divided,  that  the  right  to  navigate  the  Mis- 
sissippi need  not  find  a  place  in  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain,  for,  according  to  the  American  intention.  Great  Brit- 
ain was  not  to  possess  any  territory  on  the  Mississippi  from  its 
source  to  its  mouth. 

The  right  to  the  flsheries  was  long  under  discussion.  The 
first  decision  was  a  merely  negative  vote  that  the  common  right 
of  the  United  States  to  fish  on  the  coasts,  bays,  and  banks 
of  Nova  Scotia,  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  and  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  the  straits  of  Labrador  and  Belle-Isle,  should  in  no 
case  be  given  up. 

By  the  efforts  of  Gerry,  who  was  from  j^larblehead,  Eich- 
ard  Henry  Lee  was  able  to  bring  up  the  subject  anew ;  rmd, 
avoiding  a  collision  with  the  monopoly  of  France,  he  proposed 
that  the  right  of  fishing  on  the  coasts  and  banks  of  North 
America  should  be  reserved  to  the  United  States  as  fully  as 
they  enjoyed  the  same  when  subject  to  Great  Britain.  This 
substitute  prevailed  by  the  vote  of"  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware 
with  the  four  New  England  states. 

But  the  state  of  New  York,  guided  by  Jay  and  Gouvemeur 
Morris,  altogether  refused  to  insist  in  the  treaty  of  peace  on  a 
riglit  to  the  fisheries ;  and  Gouvemeur  Morris,  on  the  eighth 
of  May,  calling  to  mhid  "the  exhausted  situation  of  the  United 
States,  the  derangement  of  their  finances,  and  the  defect  of 
their  resources,"  moved  that  the  acknowledgment  of  indepen- 
dence should  be  the  sole  condition  of  peace."  The  motion  was 
declared  to  be  out  of  order  by  the  votes  of  the  four  New  Eng- 
land  states.  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  against  the  unani- 
mous delegations  of  New  York,  Maryland,  and  North  Carolina ; 
while  Delaware,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina  were  equally 
divided.  "^ 

The  French  minister  intervened;  and,  on  the  twent}-- 
seventh  of  May,  congress  went  back  to  its  first  resolve,  "  that 
by  no  treaty  of  peace  should  the  common  right  of  fishing  be 
given  up." 

_  On  the  third  of  June,  Gerry  again  appeared  as  the  cham- 
pion of  the  American  right  to  the  fisheries  on  banks  or  coasts, 
as  exercised  during  their  political  connection  with  Great  Brit- 


IK 


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ti 


324      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  on.  XXI. 


ain.  ITo  was  in  part  supported  by  Sherman ;  but  New  Hamp- 
shire, ]\Iassachusett.s,  and  liliodo  Island  were  left  hy  Coimccti- 
cut,  and,  though  l^ennsylvuida  canio  to  their  aid,  the  "Galilean 
party,"  by  a  vote  of  seven  states  against  the  four,  set  aside  the 
main  qnestion. 

The  neces  ;ty  of  appeals  to  Franco  for  aid  promoted  obse- 
quiousness to  its  wishes.  On  the  fifteenth  of  June  1779,  con- 
gress solicited  supplies  from  its  ally  to  the  value  of  nearly 
three  millions  of  dollars,  to  be  paid  for,  with  interest,  after  the 
peace. 

Four  days  later,  Gerry,  evading  a  breach  of  the  ndes  of 
congress  by  a  change  in  form,  moved  resohitions  that  the 
United  States  have  a  conunon  right  with  the  English  to  the 
fisheries  on  the  banks  of  Newfonndhmd,  and  the  other  lishing- 
banks  and  seas  of  North  America.  A  most  stormy  and  acri- 
monious debate  ensued.  The  friends  of  France  resisted  the 
resolutions  as  sure  to  alienate  Si)ain,  and  contrary  to  the  gen- 
eral longing  for  peace.  Four  states  read  a  sketch  of  their 
protest  on  the  subject.  Congress  gave  way  in  part,  but  by  the 
votes  of  the  four  New  England  states  and  Pennsylvania 
against  New  York,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina, 
with  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  South  Carolina  divided,  they 
affirmed  the  conunon  right  of  the  Americans  to  fish  on  the 
Grand  Eanks ;  and  for  this  right,  to  which  Vergennes  owned 
their  indisiratable  title,  they  asked  the  guarantee  of  France  in 
the  form  of  an  explanatory  article  of  existing  treaties. 

The  persevering  French  minister  sought  an  interview  with 
president  Jay  and  two  other  members  of  congress  well  dis- 
■losed  to  the  wishes  of  France.  Finding  them  inclined  to 
j^  old  to  New  England,  ho  remarked  that  disunion  from  the 
side  of  New  England  was  not  to  be  feared,  for  its  people 
carried  their  love  of  independence  even  to  delirium.  lie 
added :  "  There  would  seem  to  be  a  wish  to  break  the  cor- 
nection  of  France  with  Spain ;  but  I  think  I  can  say  that,  if 
the  Americans  should  have  the  boldness  *  to  force  the  king  of 
France  to  choose  between  the  two  alliances,  his  decision  will 
not  be  in  favor  of  the  United  States;  he  will  certainly  not 
expose  himself  to  consume  the  remaining  resources  of  the  king- 
*  In  his  report  to  Vcrgcnncs,  Ucrard  uses  the  word  "  ruuduce," 


"25 


o 


irr9.     THE  treaty  between  France  and  spain. 

dom  fo-  many  years,  only  to  secure  an  increase  of  fortune  to 
a  few  sliii)-nia.sters  of  I^ew  England.  I  shall  greatly  regret, 
on  account  of  the  Americans,  should  Spain  oiiter  into  the^war 
without  a  convention  with  them." 

The  interview  lasted  from  eight  o'clock  iii  the  evening  till 
an  hour  aftev  midnight;  but  Jay  and  liis  friends  would  uut 
themselves  undertake  to  change  the  opinion  of  congress;  and 
the  result  was  a  new  interview  on  the  twelfth  of  July  between 
Gerard  and  members  of  congress  in  committee  of  the  whole. 
Of  the  committee  on  foreign  aifairs,  eight  accepted  the  French 
policy.  Jay,  with  other  members,  gained  over  votes  from  tlio 
'•Anti-Gallican»  side;  and,  after  long  debates  and  many  divi- 
sions, the  proposition  to  stipulate  a  right  to  the  lisheries  in  the 
treaty  of  peace  was  indefinitely  postponed  by  the  votes  of  eight 
states  against  New  Hampshire,  :Massachu8etts,  Rhode  Island, 
and  Pennsylvania,  Georgia  alone  being  absent. 

As  to  the  future  boundaries  of  the  Li;it<d  States,  Spain 
passionately  desired  to  recover  the  Floridas  , ,  as  to  have  the 
whole  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  1\!  .-xico.  The  Unitud  States  had  no 
traditional  wish  for  their  acquisition,  and  from  the  military 
point  of  view  Washington  preferred  that  Spain  should  possess 
them  rather  than  Great  Britain.  Here,  therefore,  no  serious 
difficulty  arose ;  but  Spain  dreaded  the  extension  of  the  United 
States  to  the  Mississippi.  The  Quebec  act  had  transferred  to 
Canada  the  territory  west  and  north-west  of  the  Ohio.  Spain 
indulged  the  hope  that  England  would  insist  on  its  j'ght  to 
that  region;  but  as  to  the  Americans,  their  backwoodsmen 
were  already  settled  in  the  country,  and  it  would  have  been 
easier  to  extiri)ate  the  game  in  its  forests  than  to  drive  the 
American  settlers  from  their  homes.  Spain,  with  the  support 
of  France,  ^^^shed  that  the  country  north-west  of  the  Ohio 
river  should  be  guaranteed  to  Great  Britain  ;  but  such  a  propo- 
sition could  never  gain  a  hearing  in  congress.  Fi-ance,  re- 
nouncing for  herself  all  pretensions  to  Canada  and  Nova 
Scotia,  joined  Spain  in  opposing  every  wish  of  the  Americans 
to  acquire  them.     In  this  congress  acquiesced. 

^  The  French  minister  desired  to  persuade  congress  to  be 
willing  to  end  the  war  by  a  tnice,  after  the  prccedwits  of  the 
Swiss  cimtons  and  the  United  Netheriimds.     Burke  of  North 


;i 


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L1 


326      AMERICA  I^  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  cri.  XXI. 


Mi  1 


!'•  • 


ill!!'! 


ni"  f,  I  j:  i 


i' 


II . 


Carolina,  seconded  by  Duane  of  New  York,  wished  no  more 
than  tliat  independence  should  ho  tacitly  acknowledged;  but 
congress  refpiircd  that,  previous  to  any  treaty  of  peace,  the 
indei)endence  of  the  United  States  should,  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain,  be  "  assured." 

Further,  Gerard  wished  America  to  bring  about  the  acces- 
sion of  Spain  to  the  alliance  by  trusting  iniphcitly  to  the  mag- 
nanimity of  the  Spanish  king;  otherwise,  he  said,  " you  will 
prevent  lus  Catholic  majesty  from  joining  ;'n  our  common 
cause,  and  from  completing  the  intended  triumvirate."  Con- 
gress escaped  from  an  immediate  decision  by  resolvin.  to  send 
a  plenipotentiary  of  its  own  to  Spain. 

The  minister  to  be  chosen  to  negotiate  a  peace  was,  by  a 
nniinimous  vote,  directed  to  recpiire  "  Great  Britain  to  treat 
with  the  United  States  as  sovereign,  free,  and  inuopendent," 
and  the  independence  was  to  be  confirmed  by  the  treaty.  Xova 
Scotia  was  desired ;  but  the  negotiator  might  leave  the  north- 
eastern boundary  "  to  be  adjusted  by  counnissioners  after  the 
peace."  The  guarantee  of  an  equal  common  right  to  the  fish- 
eries was  declared  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance,  but  was  not 
made  an  nltimatum,  except  in  the  instructions  for  the  treaty 
of  commerce  with  England.  At  the  same  time,  the  American 
minister  at  the  court  of  France  was  directed  to  concert  with 
that  power  a  mutual  guarantee  of  their  rights  in  tlie  fisheries 
as  enjoyed  before  the  war. 

The  plan  for  a  treaty  with  the  :  ing  of  Spain  lingered  a 
month  longer.  On  the  seventeenth  of  Se]-»tcmber  congress 
offered  to  guarantee  to  him  the  Floridas,  if  they  should  fall 
into  his  power, "  provided  always  that  the  United  States  should 
enjoy  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  into  and  from  the 


sea. 


The  great  financial  distress  of  the  states  was  to  be  made 


known  to  him,  in  t^-e  hojie  of  a  subsidy  or  a  guarantee  of  a 
loan  to  tlie  amount  of  five  millions  of  dollars. 

^  On  the  twenty-sixth,  congress  proceeded  to  ballot  for  the 
minister  to  negotiate  peace,  John  Adams  being  nominated  by 
Laurens  of  South  Carolina,  while  Smith  of  Virginia  pro- 
posed Jay  who  was  favored  by  the  French  minister.  On  two 
])allots  no  election  was  made.  A  compromise  reconciled  tha 
rivalry;   Jay,  on  the  twenty-seventh,  was  elected  envoy  to 


1779. 


KEFORMS  IN  ^^'IRGINIA. 


327 


Spain.  Tlio  forinallj  civil  letter  in  which  Vcrgenuos  bade 
faroAvell  to  John  Adams  on  his  retiring  from  Paris  was  road 
in  congress  in  proof  that  he  would  be  most  aceepta1)le  to  the 
French  ministry ;  and,  directly  contrary  to  its  wishes,  he  was 
chosen  to  negotiate  the  treaty  of  peace  as  well  as  an  eventual 
treaty  of  commerce  with  Great  Britain. 

In  December  1778,  Marie  Antoinette,  after  many  years  of 
an  unfruitful  marriage,  gave  birth  to  a  daughter.  Congress,  in 
June  1770,  congratulating  the  king  of  France  on  the  event, 
asked  for  "  tlie  portraits  of  himself  and  his  royal  consort,  to  be 
placed  in  their  council  chamber."  This  was  not  an  act  of  adu- 
lation. The  Americans  took  part  in  the  happiness  of  Louis 
XVI.  An  honest  impulse  of  gratitude  gave  his  name  to  the 
city  which  overiooks  the  falls  of  the  Ohio;  and  when,  in  1781, 
a  son  was  born  to  him,  Pennsylvania  commemorated  the  event 
in  the  name  of  one  of  its  counties. 

The  compulsory  inactivity  of  the  British  army  at  the  north 
encouraged  discontent  and  intrigues.  There  rose  up  in  rivalry 
with  Clinton  a  body  styling  themselves  "  the  loyal  associated 
refugees,"  who  were  impatient  to  obtain  an  independent  or- 
ganization under  Tryon  and  "William  Franklin.  They  in- 
sisted that  more  alertness  would  crush  the  rebellion ;  they 
loved  to  recommend  the  employment  of  savages,  the  confis- 
cation of  the  property  of  wealthy  rebels,  and  even  their  exe- 
cution or  exile. 

The  A^irginians,  since  the  expulsion  of  Lord  Dunmore, 
free  from  war  within  their  own  liorders,  were  enriching  them- 
selves by  the  unmolested  culture  of  tobacco,  Avhich  was  ex- 
ported through  the  Chesapeake ;  or,  when  that  highway  was 
unsafe,  by  a  short  land  carriage  to  Albemarle  sound.  On  the 
ninth  of  May  two  thousand  men  under  General  Matthew, 
Avith  five  hundred  marines,  anchored  in  ILmipton  Roads. 
Tlie  next  day,  after  occupymg  Portsmouth  and  Norfolk,  they 
bin-ned  every  house  but  one  in  Sutlolk  county,  and  seized  or 
mhwd  all  perisliable  pioperty.  Parties  from  a  sloop-of-war 
and  privateers  entered  the  principal  waters  of  the  Chesapeake, 
carried  olf  or  wasted  stores  of  tobacco  heaped  on  their  banks, 
and  burned  the  dwelhngs  of  the  planters.  B'  f  -e  the  end  of 
the  month  the  predatory  expedition,  haWng  destroyed  more 


T 

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328     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  on.  xxi. 

than  a  liundred  vessels,  arrived  at  New  York  with  seventeen 
prizes  and  tliree  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco. 

The  le,i>;islature  of  Virginia,  which  was  in  session  at  Wil- 
liamsburg during  the  invixsion,  retaliated  by  confiscating  the 
property  of  British  subjects  within  the  commonwealth.  An 
act  of  a  previous  session  had  directed  debts  due  to  British  sub- 
jects to  bo  paid  into  the  loan-office  of  the  state.  To  meet  the 
pubHc  exigencies,  a  heavy  poll-tax  was  laid  on  all  servants  or 
slaves,  as  well  as  a  tax  payable  in  cereals,  hemp,  inspected  to- 
bacco, or  the  like  commodities ;  and  the  issue  of  one  million 
pounds  in  paper  money  was  authorized.  Every  one  who  would 
servo  at  home  or  in  the  continental  army  during  the  war  was 
promised  a  bounty  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  an  an- 
nual supply  of  clothing,  and  one  hundred  acres  of  land  at  the 
end  of  the  war ;  pensions  were  promised  to  disabled  soldiers 
and  to  the  ^\  idows  of  those  who  should  find  their  death  in  the 
service;  half-pay  for  life  wns  voted  to  the  officers.  Each  di- 
vision of  the  militia  was  rerpiired  to  furnish  for  the  seiwice 
one  able-bodied  man  out  of  every  twenty-five,  to  be  di-afted  by 
fiiir  and  impartial  lot. 

The  code  in  which  Jefferson,  Wythe,  and  Pendleton  adapted 
the  laws  of  Virginia  to  reason,  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people, 
and  tlie  republican  form  of  government,  was  laid  before  the 
legislature.  The  law  of  descents  abolished  the  rights  of  pri- 
mogeniture, and  distributed  real  as  well  as  personal  property 
ocpially  among  brothers  and  sisters.  The  punishment  of  death 
was  forbidden,  except  for  treason  and  murder.  A  bill  was 
brought  in  to  organize  schools  in  every  county,  at  the  expense 
of  its  inhabitants,  in  proportion  to  the  general  tax-rates ;  but 
in  time  of  war,  and  in  the  scattered  state  of  tlie  inhabitants,  it 
wiuj  not  possible  to  introduce  a  thorough  system  of  universal 
education. 

The  preamble  to  the  bill  for  establishing  religious  freedom, 
written  by  Jefferson,  declared  "  that  belief  depends  not  on  will, 
but  follows  evidence ;  that  God  hath  created  the  mind  free ; 
that  temporal  punishment  or  civil  incapacitations  only  beget 
hypocrisy  and  meanness ;  that  the  impious  endeavor  of  fallible 
legislators  and  rulers  to  impose  their  own  opinions  on  others 
hath  establit;hed  and  maintained  false  r(!litrious ;  that  to  suffer 


1779. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE    WAR. 


329 


tlic  ciWl  magistrate  to  intrndc  his  powers  into  tlie  field  of  opin- 
ion destroys  all  religious  liberty ;  that  truth  is  the  proper  and 
sufficient  antagonist  to  error,  and  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
conflict,  unless  by  human  interposition  disarmed  of  her  natural 
weapons,  free  argument  and  debate;  errors  ceasing  to  be  dan- 
gerous when  it  is  permitted  freely  to  contradict  tliem." 

It  was  therefore  proposed  to 'be  enacted  by  the  general  as-- 
fienibly:  "No  man  shall  be  compelled  to  frequent  or  support 
any  religious  worship,  place,  or  ministry,  nor  sliall  be  enforced, 
restrained,  molested,  or  burthened  in  his  body  or  goods,  nor 
shall  otherwise  suffer,  on  account  of  his  belief;  but  all  'moii 
shall  be  free  to  profess,  and  by  argument  to  maintain,  their 
opinion  in  matters  of  religion ;  and  the  same  shall  in  no  wise 
diminish,  on  large,  or  affect  their  civil  capacities.  And  we  do 
de'c]ar(>  that  tlie  rights  hereby  asserted  are  of  the  natural  rights 
of  mankind." 

These  words  of  Jefferson  on  the  freedom  of  conscience 
expressed  the  forming  convictions  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States;  the  enactment  was  delayed  that  the  great  decree,  which 
made  the  leap  from  an  established  church  to  the  largest  liberty 
of  faith  and  public  worship,  might  be  adopted  after  calm  de- 
liberation and  with  popular  approval.  Virgmia  used  its  right 
of  original  and  complete  legislation  to  abolis'  the  privileo-es  of 
primogeniture,  cut  off  entails,  forbid  the  sla.e-trade,  and  estab- 
lish tlie  principle  of  freedom  in  religion  as  the  inherent  and  in- 
alienable possession  of  spiritual  being. 

The  British  expedition  to  the  Chesapeahe,  after  its  return 
to  New  York,  joined  a  detachment  conducted  by  Clinton  him- 
self forty  miles  up  the  Hudson  to  gain  possession  of  Stony 
I  onit  and  Verplanck's  Point.     The  garrison  withdrew  from 
their  unfinished  work  at  Stony  Point.      The  connnander  at 
Vcirplanek's  Point,  waiting  to  be  closely  invested  l)y  water,  on 
tha  second  of  Juna  made  an  inglorious  surrend(>r.     The  two 
posts  commanded  King's  ferry;  the  British  fortified  and  gar- 
risoned them,  anJ  so  left  the  Americans  no  line  of  communica- 
tion between  Few  York  and  New  Jersey  south  of  the  high- 
lands. " 

A  pillaging  expodition,  sent  to  punish  the  patriotism  oi 
Counectieut,  was  intrusted  to  Tryou.    The  fleet  and  transports 


M-' 

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330      AMERICA  J^  ALLIANCE  "WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  cii,  xxi. 

arrived  off  Xow  Haven ;  and,  at  two  in  tlie  morning  of  tlio 
fifth  of  July,  one  party  landed  suddenly  on  the  west  of  the 
town,  another  on  the  east.  Everything  was  abandoned  to 
plunder:  vessels  in  the  harbor,  public  stores,  and  the  ware- 
houses near  the  sound,  were  destroyed  by  fire.  The  soldiers, 
demoralized  by  license,  lost  all  discipline,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing retired  before  the  Connecticut  militia,  who  left  them  no 
time  to  burn  the  town.  At  East  Haven,  where  Tryon  com- 
manded, dwelling-houses  were  fired  and  cattle  wantonly  killed  f 
some  of  the  unarmed  inhabitants  were  put  to  death,  others 
carried  away  as  prisoners ;  but  the  British  were  driven  to  their 
ships. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  seventh  the  expedition  landed 
near  Fairfield.  The  village,  a  century  and  a  quarter  old,  situ- 
ated near  the  water,  with  a  lovely  country  for  its  background, 
contained  a  moral,  well-educated,  industrious,  and  affluent 
people  of  nearly  niunixed  English  lineage ;  well-ordered  homes ; 
freeholders  as  heads  of  families.  An  Episcopal  church  stood 
by  the  side  of  the  larger  meeting-house.  The  husbandmen 
who  came  together  were  too  few  to  withstand  the  unforeseen 
onslaught.  The  Hessians  were  let  loose  to  plunder,  and  every 
dv/elling  was  given  up  to  bo  stripped.  Before  the  sun  went 
down  the  firing  of  houses  began,  and  Avas  kept  up  through  the 
night,  amid  the  "  cries  of  distressed  women  and  helpless  chil- 
dren." Early  the  next  morning  the  conflagi'ation  was  made 
general.  When  at  the  return  of  night  the  retreat  was  sounded, 
the  rear-guard,  composed  of  Germans,  set  in  flauifs  the  meeting- 
house and  every  i)rivate  habitation  that  till  then  had  escaped. 
At  Green  Farms  a  meeting-house  and  all  dwellings  and  barns 
were  consumed. 

On  the  eleventh  the  British  appeared  before  Forwalk  and 
burned  its  Ikhtscs,  l)arns,  and  places  of  public  worship.  Sir 
George  Collier  and  Try(-n,  the  British  admiral  and  genei-al,  in 
their  address  to  the  iidiabitants  of  Connecticut,  said :  "  The 
existence  of  a  single  htibitation  on  your  defenceless  coast  ought 
to  be  a  constant  reproof  to  your  ingratitude." 

Xew  London  was  selected  as  the  next  victim;  but  Trj'on, 
wh(j  had  already  lust  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  was  re- 
called to  iS^ew  York  1)y  a  disaster  which  had  befallen  the  Brit. 


1779. 


PROGRESS   OF  THE  WAR. 


331 


isb.  "N-Q  sooner  had  they  strongly  fortified  themselves  at  Stony 
Point  than  Washington,  after  ascertaining  the  character  of 
their  works,  fonned  a  plan  for  talang  them  by  surprise 
AYayne,  of  whom  ho  made  choice  to  lead  the  enterprise,  under- 
took the  peiilous  office  with  alacrity,  and  devised  improve- 
ments in  the  method  of  executing  the  design. 

Stony  Point,  a  hill  just  below  the  Highlands,  projects  into 
the  Hudson,  which  surrounds  three  fourths  of  its  base;  the 
fourth  side  was  covered  by  a  marsh,  over  which  there  lay  but 
one  pathway;  where  this  road  joined  the  river,  a  sandy  beach 
was  left  bare  at  low  tide.     The  fort,  which  was  furnished  with 
heavy  ordnance  and  garrisoned  by  six  hundred  men,  crowned 
the  hill.     Half-way  between  the  river  and  the  fort  there  was 
a  double  row  of  abattis.     Breastworks  and  strong  batteries 
could  rake  any  column  which  might  advance  over°the  beach 
and  the  marsh.     From  the  river,  vessels  of  war  commanded 
the  foot  of  the  hill.     Conducting  twelve  hundred  chosen  men 
m  smgle  file  over  mountains  and  through  morasses  and  narrow 
passes,  Wayne  halted  them  at  a  distance  of  a  n^;ie  and  a  half 
from  the  enemy,  while  with  the  principal  officers  he  recon- 
noitred the  works.     Al)out  twenty  minutes  after  twelve  on  the 
morning  of  the  sixteenth  the  assault  began,  the  troops  placing 
their  sole  dependence  on  the  bayonet.     Two  advance  parties 
of  twenty  men  each,  in  one  of  which  seventeen  out  of  the 
twenty  were  killed  or  wounded,  removed  the  abattis  and  other 
obstructions.     Wayne,  leading  on  a  regiment,  was  wounded  in 
tlie  head,  but,  supported  by  his  aids,  still  went  forward.     The 
two  columns,  heedless  of  musketry  and  grape-shot,  gained  the 
centre  of  the  works  nearly  at  the  same  moment.    On  the  right, 
Fleury  struck  tlie  enemy's  standard  with  his  own  hand,  and 
Mas  instantly  joined  by  Stewart,  who  commanded  the  van  of 
tlie  left.     Five  hundred  and  forty-three  British  officers  and 
privates  were  nuide  prisoners.      The  achievement  was  in  its 
kind  the  most  brilliant  of  the  war. 

The  diminishing  numbers  of  the  trooj^s  with  Washington 

not  permitting  him  to  hold  Stony  Point,  tlie  cannon  and  stores 

were  removed  and  the  works  razed.     The  post  was  soon  re 

occupied,  l)ut  only  for  a  short  time,  by  a  larger  British  garrison. 

TIr:  onterpriohig  spirit  uf  Major  Hem-y  Lee  of  Virmnia 

TOL.  V. — 2ii  "  >/  t> 


r 


ill 

m 


t  i   ' 


^§Jii.^M 


3«- 


AMKRIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     kimv.:  c  ii.  xxi. 


'/! 


hm 


i  If 


i;<i 


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'i    i    j  1  I 


liiul  In>('ii  iippliuided  in  gtMieral  ordcM's ;  liis  dnriiii;  proposal  to 
att(!iii[)t  till)  fort  at  I^uilun  Ilook,  now -lersoy  ( 'ily,  olitaincd 
tho  approval  of  AV:isliiii<:;(()n.  'riic  pl;uic  was  stroni;,  hut  was 
carolcswly  ^uardod.  The  party  with  Ia'c  was  uiKhscovcrcd 
until,  in  thi)  inorniinjj  of  the  nineteenth  of  Aujjjnst,  hefore  day, 
they  ])hiiii;-ed  into  tlie  canal,  then  deep  from  tli''  rising'  tido. 
Entering;  the  main  worl<  throng'li  a.  lire  of  musketry  from 
hlock-honses,  they  eaptin'cd  the  fort  hefore  the  diseliargo  of  a 
Binjxle  pii'ce  of  artillery.  A  fter  daybreak  they  withdrew,  tak.ng 
with  tluMn  one  hundred  and  fifty -niiui  prisoners. 

Incited  hy  thi)  massacre,  of  AVyomin<jj  and  (^lu>rry  valley, 
congress,  on  the  twenty-jifth  of  Fehrnary,  had  directed  AVash- 
ington  to  protect  the  inlan  I  fnn  ierand  chastise  tho  Seneca 
Indians.  Of  the  two  natural  rout(N  to  their  country,  that  of 
the  8us<pi(>hannah  was  select*  .1  for  three  thousand  men  of  the 
boat  continentid  troops,  who  were  to  rally  at  Wyoming,  while 
ono  thousand  or  nion^  of  the  men  of  ^ow  York  woro  to  move 
from  the  ]\[olKiwk  river. 

Hid'ort'  they  could  he  ri\idy,  a  i>arty  of  live  or  six  Inindred 
men,  led  hy  Van  Schaick  and  Willet,  made  a  swift  march  of 
three  days  into  the  country  of  the  Onondagas,  and,  without 
tho  loss  of  a  man.  destroyed  their  settlement. 

The  connnand  of  tho  great  (expedition,  which  Gates  do- 
climnl,  devolved  on  Sullivan,  t(>  Avhom  Washington  in  ]\ray 
gave  repeatedly  the  instruction:  "  M  >vo  as  light  as  possible 
evoji  from  tho  first  onset,  lleject  every  artidj  that  can  bo 
dispensed  with  ;  this  is  an  extraordinary  case,  and  re(piiros  ex- 
traordinary attentioTi."  Yet  Sullivan  ma<le  insatiable  demands 
on  tho  gtn-ernmont  of  Pemisylvania,  and  wasted  time  in  iindiug 
fault  and  writing  strange  theological  essays.  INfeanwhilo,  Tb-itish 
and  IndiaTi  partisans  near  Fort  Schuyler  surprised  and  ca]>ture(l 
twenty -nine  mowers.  Savages  under  ]\Iacdonell  laid  waste  the 
•west  bank  of  tho  Snscpiehannah,  till  "the  Indiana,"  by  his  own 
report,  ''  were  glutted  Avith  plunder,  jirisonoi-s,  and  scalps." 
Thirty  miles  of  a  closolv  settled  country  were  burnt,  lb-ant 
and  his  crew  oonsutuiHl  with  tire  all  the  S(>ttlement  of  IMinisink. 
()no  ft)rt  excepted,  and,  from  a  party  by  whom  the}'  were  ])ur- 
sued,  took  more  than  forty  scalps  and  ono  ])i-isoner. 

Tho  best  part  of  the  season  was  gone  when  Sidliv.an,  on  the 


1779. 


PR0GRE8S  OF  THE   WAR. 


33.3 


lust  of  Julj,  moved  from  Wyoming.     Uk  arrive]  ut  Tio.^a 
.cut  terror  to  tl.o  In.!ia,..s.     Several  of  tl.eir   cliief.s   sai.l  to 
(..lone    J,olton  m  eo.meil :  "Why  does  not   llu,  groat  kin-r 
...ir  father  assist  u.'i     ()„r  viilageH  v^'iil  be  cut  oil,  aiul  we  cum 
no  l.mger  light  his  battles."    ()„  the  tu'enty-s,..-on.l  of  An-nist 
the  (lay  after  Sullivan  wiiH  joined  l,y  Kew  York  tn.ons  undei' 
(general  James  Clinton,  he  began  the  unuvh  up  the  Tio-a  into 
t  e  heart  of  the    Indian   eountry.     On  the  sa.ne  day^Little 
Dav.d,  a  Mohawk  eh.H,  delivered  a  n.essage  fron.  hhnself  and 
.0   S,x    Nat.ons   (o  Iiahlinuu.,1,  then   governor  of   Canada: 
Lrotherl   for  these  th,-ee  yearn  past   the  Six  Nations  have 
iK-en  runmng  a  raee  against  fresh  ei.e.nies,  and  are  ahuost  out 
of  breath,     hosv  we  shall  see  whether  you  are  our  lovin.., 
Htn.ng  broth.T,  or  whether  you  deeeive  us.     Jh-other!  we  are 
still  stro.ig  tor  the  king  ,  f  England,  if  yon  will  show  ns  that 
he  IS  a  nian  of  las  won.   ..nd  that  he  will  not  abandon  his 
brothers,  the  Six  Nations." 

The  march  into  the  eountry  of  the  Senecas  on  the  left  ex- 
tended to  Cenesee;  on  the  right,  detaehments  reached  Cayu^^a 
lake.  After  destroying  eighteen  villages  and  their  fields  of 
cv.rn  Su  l.van  returned  to  New  Jersey.  A  sn.all  party  from 
K,rt  1  itt  muler  connnand  of  Cohmel  lirodhead,  broke  up  the 
towns  of  the  Seneeas  upon  the  upper  branch  of  the  Alleghany. 
Ue  manifest  mabillty  of  Giv-t  Britain  to  protect  the  Six 
JNatious  taught  them  to  desire  neutrality. 

In  June  the  Ih-itish  general  ]\ra.clean,  who  commanded  in 
iNova  Scot.a,  established  a  post  of  six  hundred  men  at  what  is 

Z^'T  Z  ^'"i "'^^'  ^"^^'-     ^^'^  '^''^'"'-^  ^^-  "^traders, 
the  Massachusetts  legislature  sent  nineteen  armed  ships,  sloops 

and  brigs  :  two  of  them  continental  vessels,  the  rest  privateers 
or  belonging  to  the  state.  The  flotilla  carried  more  than  three 
nn.dred  guns,  and  was  attended  by  twenty-four  transports, 
liaving  on  board  nearly  a  thousand  men.  So  large  an  Ameri- 
can armament  had  never  put  to  sea.  The  towns  on  the  coast 
^pared  no  sacrifice  to  insure  success.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of 
July  the  expedition  gallantly  effected  their  landing,  bSt  were 

while  a  reinforcement  was  on  the  way,  Sir  George  Collier  on 
th.  .oartccnth  of  August  arrived  in  a  sixty-four  gun  ship,  at- 


'i  ¥  ' - 


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334       AMERICA  IN  ALIJANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.;  en.  xxt 

tended  by  five  frin^ates.  T\\  o  vessels  of  war  fell  into  his  luinds ; 
the  rest  and  all  the  tran8])orts  ran  up  the  river,  and  were  burnt 
by  the  men  of  the  expedition,  who  made  their  esca])e  through 
the  woods.  The  British  were  left  niiisters  of  the  euuntry  east 
of  the  Penobscot. 

Yet  the  result  of  the  cainpaif^n  at  tlie  north  promised  suc- 
cess to  America.  Clinton  had  evacuated  Rhode  Island,  and 
all  New  England  west  of  the  Penobscot  was  free  from  an 
enemy.  In  New  York  the  Six  Nations  had  learned  that 
the  alliance  with  the  English  secured  them  gifts,  but  not  pro- 
tection. On  the  Hudson  river  the  Americans  recovered  the 
use  of  King's  ferry,  and  held  all  the  country  above  it. 

The  winter  set  in  early  and  with  unwonted  severity.     Be- 
fore the   middle   of   December,  and    long   before   the  army 
could  build  their  log  huts,  the  snow  lay  two  feet  deep  in  New 
Jersey,  where  the  troops  were  cantoned  ;  so  that  they  saved 
themselves  with  difficulty  from  freezing  by  keeping  up  large 
fires.     Continental  money  was  valued  at  no  more  than  thirty 
for  one,  and  even  at  that  rate  the  country  people  took  it  unwill- 
ingly.   There  could  be  no  regularity  in  supplies.     Sometinicp 
the  army  was  five  or  six  days  together  without  bread  ;  at  other 
times  as  many  without  meat ;  and  once  or  twice  two  or  three 
days  without  either.     But  such  was  the  efficiency  of  the  mag- 
istrates of  New  Jei-sey,  such  the  good  disjiosition  of  its  people, 
that,  when  retpiisitions  were  nuide  by  the  commander-in-chief 
on  its  several  counties,  they  were  punctually  comi)lied  with, 
and  in  some  counties  exceeded.      For  many  of  the  soldiers 
the  term  of  service  expired  with  the  year ;  and  shorter  enlist- 
ments, by  which  several  states  attempted  to  fill  their  quotas, 
were   fatal   to   con^pactness  and   stability.     Massachusetts  of- 
fered a  bounty  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  each  of  those  who 
would  enlist  for  thr^c  years  or  the  Avar,  and  found  few  to 
accept   the   olTer.     The  Americans  wanted  men  and  wanted 
money,  but  could  not  be  subdued.      An  incalculable  strength 
lay  in  reserve  in  the  energy  of  the  states  and  of  each  individual 
citizen  ;  and  neither  congress  nor  i)eople  harbored  a  doubt  of 
their  ultimate  triumph. 

Thomas  Po^vnall,  a  member  of  parliament,  who,  from  long 
civil  service  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  knew  them 


*■•»' 


1779. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR. 


335 


thoroughly  well,  pul>lished  in  England  a  niemoiial  al)out  them 
addressed  to  the  sovereigns  of  Europe : 

"The  system  of  establishing  colonies  in  various  climates  to 
create  a  monopoly  of  the  peculiar  product  of  their  labor  is  at 
end.  The  spirit  of  commerce  hath  become  predominant  A 
great  and  powerful  empire,  founded  in  nature  and  growing 
nito  an  mdependent  organized  being,  has  taken  its  equal  sit 
tion  with  the  nations  upon  earth.  I  see  the  sun  rising  in  the 
west.  The  mdependenee  of  America  is  iixed  as  fate ;  she  is 
unstress  of  her  own  fortune;  knows  that  she  is  so;  and  will 
establish  her  own  system  and  constitution  and  change  the 
system  of  Europe. 

"In  this  New  Worhl  growth  is  founded  in  the  civilizing 
activity  of  the  human  race.     AVe  see  all  the  inhabitants  not 
only  free,  but  allowing  an  universal  naturalization.     In  a  coun- 
try hke  this,  where  every  man  has  the  full  and  free  exertion 
ot  his  powers,  an  unabated  application  and  a  perpetual  struggle 
sharpen  the  wits  and  give  constant  training  to  the  mind.     In 
this  wilderness  of  woods  the  settlers  try  experiments,  and  the 
advantages  of  their  discoveries  are  their  own.     One  sees  them 
uboring  after  the  plough,  as  though  they  had  not  an  idea 
beyond  the  ground  they  dwell  upon ;  yet  is  their  mind  all  the 
while  enlarging  its  powers,  and  their  sjnrit  rises  as  their  im- 
provements advance.     This  is  no  fancy  drawing  of  what  may 
1)0 ;  It  IS  an  exact  portrait  of  what  actually  exists.     Many  a 
real  philosopher,  a  politician,  a  warrior,  emerge  out  of  this 
wilderness,  as  the  seed  rises  out  of  the  ground  where  it  hath 
xaiu  buried  for  its  season. 

"In  agriculture,  in  mechanic  handicrafts,  the  New  World 
iiath  been  led  to  many  improvements  of  implements,  tools, 
and  machines,  leading  experience  by  the  hand  to  many  a  new 
"H'^ntion.  The  settlers  find  fragments  of  time  in  which  they 
make  most  of  the  articles  of  personal  wear  and  household  use 
lor  home  consumption.  Here  no  laws  frame  conditions  on 
which  a  man  is  to  exercise  this  or  that  trade.  Here  are  no 
oppressing,  obstructing,  dead-doing  laws.  The  moment  that 
the  i_)rogress  of  civilization  is  ripe  for  it,  manufactures  will  grow 
aiul^ increase  with  an  astonishing  exuberancy.    ' 

"  The  same  ingenuity  is  exerted  in  ship-building ;  their 


IPi* 


'Kni 


I 


1   » 


;;!' 


S      '  1 


i 


t|  ';: 


■ir\ 


3  1    ^ 

!  'i 


.11 


II 


I 


iliiil 


336      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  on.  xxi. 

commerce  hath  been  striking  deep  root.  Tlie  nature  of  the 
coast  and  of  tlie  winds  renders  marine  navigation  a  perpetu- 
ally moving  intercourse  ;  and  the  nature  of  the  rivers  renders 
inhmd  navigation  I>ut  a  further  process  of  that  communion; 
all  which  becomes,  as  it  were,  a  one  vital  pi-incii)le  of  life,  ex- 
tended through  a  ouc  organi;ced  being,  one  nation.  Will  that 
most  enterprising  s])irit  be  stopped  at  Cape  Horn,  or  not  pass 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ?  Before  long  they  will  be  found 
trading  in  the  South  Sea,  in  the  Spice  Islands,  and  in  China. 

"  This  fostering  happiness  in  JS'orth  America  doth  produce 
progressive  population.  They  have  increased  nearly  the 
double  in  oigliteen  years.  By  constant  intercommunion,  Amer- 
ica will  every  day  approach  nearer  and  nearer  to  Europe.  Un- 
less the  great  potentates  of  Europe  can  station  cherubim  at 
every  avenue  Math  a  flaming  Rword  that  turns  every  way,  to 
prevent  man's  quitting  this  Old  World,  multitudes  of  their 
people,  many  of  the  most  useful,  enterprising  spirits,  will  emi- 
grate to  the  new  one.  Much  of  the  active  projjcrty  will  go 
there  also. 

"  The  new  empire  of  America  is  like  a  giant  ready  to  run 
its  course.  The  fostering  care  with  which  the  rival  powers  of 
Europe  will  nurse  it  insures  its  establishment  beyond  all  doubt 
or  danger." 

So  propliesied  Po^vnalI  to  the  English  world  and  to  Eu- 
rope in  the  first  month  of  1780.  Since  the  issue  of  the  war  is 
to  proceed  in  a  great  part  from  the  influence  of  European 
powers,  it  behooves  us  now  to  study  the  manner  of  their  inter- 
vention. 


Ill 


l-IJ  M 


1778-1779. 


AMERK  A   IN  EUROrE. 


337 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

AMERICA   IN    EUROPE.      THE   ARMED   NEUTRALITT. 

1778-1780. 

Frederic  of  Prussia  had  raised  the  hope  that  he  would  follow 
France  in  recognising  the  independence  of  the  United  States- 
hut  the  question  of  the  Bavarian  succession    compelled  him' 
in  junction  with  Saxony,  to  stand  forth  as  the  champion  of 
Germany;  and  in  his  late  old  age,  broken  as  he  was  in  every- 
thing but  spirit,  he  stayed  the  aggressions  of  Austria  on  Ba. 
vanan  territory,  and  on  the  liberty  and  the  constitutions  of 
the  Germanic  body.      "At  this  moment  the  affairs  of  Eng- 
land  with  her  colonies  disappeared  from  his  eyes."   To  WiUiam 
Lee,  who,  in  July  1777,  had  been  appointed  by  congress  its 
commissioner  to  treat  alike  with  the  emperor  of  Germany  and 
the  king  of  Prussia,  and  in  March  1778  importuned  the  Prus- 
sian minister  Sclmlenburg  for  leave  to  reside  at  Berlin  as  an 
American  functionary,  Frederic  minuted  this  answer-  "We 
arc  so  occupied  with  Germany  that  we  cannot  think  of  the 
Americans :  we  should  be  heartily  glad  to  recognise  them ; 
but  at  this  present  moment  it  could  do  them  no  good,  and  to 
us  might  be  very  detrimental."      He  could  not  receive  the 
prizes  of  the  Americans  in  Embden,  because  at  that  harbor  he 
had  no  means  to  protect  them  ;  their  merchants  were  admitted 
to  his  ports  on  the  same  terms  as  the  merchants  of  all  other 
countries. 

The  British  ministry,  abandoning  the  scheme  oi  destroying 
Prussian  influence  at  Petersburg,  sought  to  propitiate  Frederic, 
as  the  best  means  of  gaining  favor  in  Russia ;  and  authorized 
Its  minister  at  Bei-llu  to  propose  an  alliance.    But  Frede.ic  was 


jUl 


i 


-■ 


I!       ! 


338     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  cii.  XXII. 


,  y. 


M!!;;;|, 


III 


unalterably  resolved  "not  to  contract  relations  with  a  power 
which,  like  England  in  the  last  war,  '>!irl  once  deceived  him  so 
unworthily." 

With  the  restoration  of  pnpo",  Aubuia  and  Russia  contested 
the  honor  of  becoming  mediate  j  Lotveen  the  Bourbons  and 
England.  On  the  fifteenth  of  iVla^  '  9,  Maria  Theresa  wrote 
in  her  own  hand  to  Charles  111.  of  Spain,  in  the  hope  to  hold 


him  back  from  war ;  and  she 


K       like  letter  to  her  son-in- 


law  at  Versailles.  Kaunitz,  hei  great  minister,  followed  with 
formal  proposals  of  mediation  to  France  and  England.  In  an 
autograph  letter,  the  king  of  Spain  put  aside  tiie  interference 
of  the  empress ;  and  on  tlie  sixteenth  of  June  his  ambassador 
in  London  delivered  to  Lord  Weymouth  a  declaration  of  war ; 
but  neither  in  that  declaration  nor  in  the  manifesto  which  fol- 
lowed was  there  one  word  relating  to  the  war  in  America. 

In  reply,  Burke,  Fox,  and  their  friends,  joined  in  jjledging 
the  house  of  commons  and  the  nation  to  the  support  of  the 
crown.     Fifty  thousand  troops  defended   the  coasts,  and  as 
many  more  of  the  militia  were  enrolled.     The  oscillation  of 
tlie  funds  did  not  exceed  one  per  cent.     But  opinion  more 
and  more  denied  to  parliament  the  right  of  taxing  unrepre- 
sented colonies,  and  prepared  to  accept  the  necessity  of  rec- 
ognising their  independence.     In  the  commons.  Lord  John 
Cavendish,  true  to  the  idea  of  Chatham,  moved  for  orders  to 
withdraw  the  British  forces  employed  in  America;   to  the 
lords,  the  duke  of  Richmond  proposed  a  total  change  of  meas- 
ures in  America  and  Ireland;  and  they  M-ere  supported  by 
increasing  numbers.     The  great  land-o^^'ners  were  grown  sick 
of  attempting  to  tax. America;  Lord  Afansfield  was  ready  to 
consent  to  the  cutting  of  the  traces  that  bound  the  restless 
colonies  to  Britain ;  Lord  North  was  frequently  dro])ping  hints 
that  no  advantage  was  to  be  gained  by  continuing  the  contest. 
But  on  the  twenty-first  of  June  the  king  summoned  his 
ministers  to  his  Hbrary ;  and,  seating  them  all  at  a  table,  ex- 
pressed to  them  in  a  speech  of  an  hour  and  a  half  "the  dictates 
of  his  frequent  and  severe  self-examination."     Invitijig  the 
friends  of  Gronville  to  the  support  of  the  administration,  he 
declared  his  unchanging  resolution  to  carry  on  the  war  agaiii.4 
America,  France,  and  Spain.     Before  he  would  hear  of  aii^ 


1779. 


AMERICA  IN  EUROPE. 


339 

man'8  readiness  to  eomo  into  office,  ho  would  expect  to  sec  it 
si-ned  under  liis  hand,  that  ho  ^vm  resolved  to  keep  the  en,i,ire 
cnt.ro.     "It  his  ministers  would  act  with  vigor  and  finnT.ess, 
lie  u-nid  support  them  against  wind  and  tide."     Yet,  far  from 
ohtaning  recruits  from  the  friends  of  Grenville,  the  administra- 
tion wu.  ahoutto  lose  its  members  of  the  Bedford  connection. 
The  chief  numster,  incapable  of  forming  a  plan  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  war,  repeatedly  offered  his  resignation,  not  in  ear- 
nest, but  that  it  might  serve  him  as  an  excuse  for  renuunina- in 
ofhce  without  assuming  the  proper  responsibility  of  his  station. 
C.nfiding  in  the  ruin  of  the  finances  of  the  rebels  and  in  re- 
cruiting successfully  within  their  borders,  the  king  was  certain 
hat,  but  f..r    he  intervention  of  Spa-in,  ^he  provinces  would 
have  sued  to  the  mother  country  for  pardon ;  and  "  he  did  not 
despair  that,  with   the  activity  of  Clinton  and  the  Indians, 
they  would  even   now  submit."      But   his  demands  for  an 
unconcutional  compliance  with  his  American  policy  left  him 
no  choice  of  ministers  but  among  weak  men.     So  the  office 
niade  vacant  hy  the  death  of  Lord  Suffolk,  the  representative 
ot  tJie  CTi-enville  party,  was  reserved  for  Hillsborough      "  His 
Amencan  sentiments,"  said  the  king,  "make  him  acceptable 
to  me.       let  it  wou^d  have  been  hard  to  find  a  public  man 
more  Ignorant  or  more  narrow,  more  confused  in  judgment  or 
faltenng  m  action ;    nor  was  he  allowed  to  enter  on  active 
senice  till  Lord  Weymouth  had  retired. 

To  unite  the  house  of  Boiu'bon  in  the  war,  France  had 
bound  herself  to  the  invasion  of  England.  True  to  her  cove- 
nant, she  moved  troops  to  the  coasts  of  Kormandy  and  Brit- 
tany, and  engaged  more  than  sixty  transport  vessels  of  sixteen 
housand  tons'  burden.  The  king  of  Spain  would  not  listen 
to  a  whisper  of  the  hazard  of  the  undertaking,  for  which  he 
was  to  furnish  only  the  temporary  use  of  twenty  ships  for  the 
detence  of  the  French  in  crossing  the  channel.  Florida  Blanca 
insisted  on  an  immediate  descent  on  England  without  regard 
^)  risk.  \  ergennes,  on  the  other  hand,  held  the  landing  of  a 
French  army  in  England  to  be  rash  until  a  naval  victory  over 
tlie  J.ritish  should  have  won  the  dominion  of  the  sea 

Early  in  June  the  French  fleet  of  thirty-one  ships  of  the 
hne,  yielding  to  8].anish  importunities,  put  to  sea  from  Brest ; 


T-] 


n    1:1 


I    .hil 


II 


ll'' 


'I'll  I      1 


I     5 

.'5      ■  J: 


jaaEi' ,  \f^^s:v 


f  'i: 


'  !i 


■J  'I 


y^  li 


340      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     kimv.  ;  ou.  xxii. 

and  yet  they  were  obliged  to  wait  off  the  coast  of  Spain  for 
the  Spaniards.  After  a  loss  of  two  mouths  in  the  best  season 
of  the  year,  a  junction  was  effected  with  more  than  twenty 
ehips-of-war  under  the  sepurato  command  of  Count  Gaston; 
and  the  combined  fleet,  the  largest  force  that  had  ever  been 
afloat,  sailed  for  the  British  channel.  King  George  longed  to 
hear  that  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  with  scarcely  more  than  forty  ships 
of  the  Hue,  had  brought  the  new  armada  to  battle.  "  Every- 
thing," wrote  Marie  Antoinette,  "depends  on  the  present 
moment.  Our  united  fleets  have  a  great  superiority;  they 
are  in  the  channel ;  and  I  cannot  think  without  a  shudder  that, 
from  one  moment  to  the  next,  our  destiny  will  be  decided." 

The  united  fleet  rode  unmolested  by   the   Britioh ;    Sir 
Charles  Hardy  either  did  not  or  \/ould  not  see  them.     On  the 
sixteenth  of  August  they  appeared  off  Plymouth,  but  did  not 
attack  the  town.     After  two  idh  dsys,  a  strong  wind  drove 
them  to  the  west.     When  the  gale  had  abated,  the  allies  ral- 
lied, retimied  up  the  channel,  and  the  British  retreated  before 
them.     iS"o  harmony  existed  between  the  French  and  Spanish 
officers.     A  deadly  malady  ravaged  the  French  ships  and  in- 
fected the  Spanish.     The  combined  fleet  nevjr  had  one  chief. 
The  French  returned  to  port  and  remained  there ;  the  Span- 
iards sailed  for  Cadiz,  exccratiiig  their  allies.     The  two  powers 
had  not  even  harmed  British  mercliant  vessels  on  their  home- 
ward voyages.     The  troops  that  were  to  have  landed  in  Eng- 
land waited  by  disease  in  Xormandy  and  Bri  umy.     "The 
doing  of  nothing  at  all  will  have  cost  us  a  great  deal  of  mon- 
ey," wrote  Mcrie  Antoinette  to  her  mother.     Them  was  noth- 
ing but  the  capture  of  the  little  island  of  Grenada  for  which 
a  Te  Doum  could  be  chant,  d  in  Paris.     "  We  shuU  feel  it  very 
sensibly  if  any  offer  of  mediation  ^liould  be  prefeirfd  to  oui's," 
wrote  i\raria  Theresa  to  her  daughter,  who  answered:  "Tiie 
nothingness  of  the  campaign  removes  every  idea  of  peace." 

During  the  attempt  at  an  invasion  of  England  the  allied 
belligerents  considered  the  condition  of  Ireland.  "To  form 
Ireland  into  an  independent  government  like  that  of  America," 
MTotc  Vergennes,  "  I  would  not  count  upcm  the  Catholics. 
They  form  the  largest  and  the  most  oppressed  part  of  ihe 
nation ;  but  the  principle  of  their  religion  attaches  them  spe- 


1778. 


THE  ARMED  NEUTRALITY. 


341 


ciully  to  the  monarchical  system."  An  American  was  sent  as 
the  agent  of  France  to  form  close  relations  with  the  principal 
Presbyterians,  especially  with  the  ministers;  but  confidence 
was  not  established  between  France  and  the  protestant  Irish. 

The  emissary  from  Spain  to  the  Irish  Catholics  was  a  Catho- 
lic priest,  who  was  promised  a  bishopric  if  he  should  succeed. 
He  could  have  no  success.  After  the  first  shedding  of  Ameri- 
can blood  in  1775,  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  Irish  Catholics, 
professing  to  speak  "for  all  the  Roman  Catholic  Irish,"  had 
made  to  the  P>ritish  secretary  in  Ireland  "a  tender  of  two 
millions  of  men  in  defence  of  the  government  of  the  king  in 
any  part  of  the  worid."  The  Irish  association  aimed  only  to 
extort  for  Ireland  the  free  t]-ade  with  other  nations  which  had 
been  granted  to  Scotland  at  the  union. 

As  soon  as  the  existence  of  war  between  Spain  and  Great 
Britain  was  kno^vn  at  New  Orleans,  Galvez,  the  governor  of 
Louisiana,  drew  together  all  the  troops  under  his  command  to 
drive  the  British  from  the  Mississippi.  Their  posts  were  pro- 
tected by  less  than  five  hundred  men;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Dickson,  abandoning  Manchac  as  untenable,  sustained  a  siege 
of  nme  days  at  Baton  Rougo,  and  on  the  twenty -first  of  Sep- 
tember made  an  honorable  capitulation ,  The  Spaniards  planned 
the  recovery  of  east  Florida,  Rensacola,  and  Mobile.  They 
expelled  from  Honduras  the  British  logwood  cutters.  In 
Europe,  their  first  act  was  tlie  siege  of  Gibraltar. 

l\Iore  important  were  the  consequences  of  tlic  imperious 
manner  in  Avhich  Great  Britain,  substituting  its  own  will  alike 
for  its  treaties  and  the  law  of  nations,  violated  the  rights  of 
neuti-als  on  the  high  seas. 

The  immunity  of  neutral  flags  is  unkno^vn  to  barbarous 
powers.  The  usages  of  the  middle  ages  condemned  as  lawful 
booty  tlie  property  of  an  enemy,  though  under  the  flag  of  a 
fnend  ;  but  spared  the  ])ro])erty  of  a  friend,  though  under  the 
fl:'g  of  an  enemy.  S]iii)s,  except  they  belonged  to  the  enemy, 
wore  never  confiscated.  When  tiie  Dutcl/ republic  took  its 
place  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  crowned  with  the  honors 
ot  martyrdom  in  the  fight  against  superstition,  this  daughter  of 
the  sea,  with  a  carrying  trade  exceeding  that  of  any  otlier  na- 
tion, became  the  champion  of  the  maritime  code,  which  pro- 


i  s 


1 1   |l 

11  n 


^11 


mi 


' 

I 

1 


\  ■   i  .'ti  .  * 


tlm 


I  If  41  f 


:  4  J 


w  ^ 


iilt'-t 


342    AMERICA  ra  ALLIANCE  ^yITlI  rr.ANCE.    ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xxii. 


!!l!  li 


Tj'I 


HI 


If  I 


tected  tlio  neutral  flag  evcryvvliero  on  the  great  deep.  In  tlio 
year  IGIO  these  jiriiiciples  were  inihodied  in  a  commercial 
treaty  between  the  republic  and  France,  AVhcn  Cromwell 
was  protector,  when  Milton  was  Latin  secretary,  the  rights  of 
neutrals  found  their  just  place  in  the  treaties  of  England,  in 
l(i54with  Portugal,  in  1655  with  France,  in  1G56  with  Sweden. 
After  the  return  of  the  Stuarts,  they  were  recognised,  in  1074, 
in  their  fullest  extent  by  the  commercial  convention  between 
England  and  the  Netherlands. 

In  lOSO,  after  the  stadholder  of  the  United  Provinces  had 
been  elected  V  .g  of  England,  his  overpowering  influence  drew 
tlie  Netherlands  into  an  acquiescence  in  a  declaration  that  all 
ships  going  to  or  coming  from  a  French  port  were  good  prizes ; 
but  it  Avas  recalled  u]ion  the  remonstrance  of  neutral  states. 
The  riglits   of  neutral  flags  were  confirmed   by  France  and 
England  in  the  peace  of  Utreclit.     The  benefits  of  the  agree- 
ment extended  to  Denmark,  as  entitled  to  all  favors  granted  to 
other  powers.     Between  1G04  and  1713  the  principle  had  been 
acceptetl  in  nearly  twenty  treaties.     AVhen,  in  1715,  Prussian 
ships,  laden  with  wood  and  corn,  were  captured  on  the  high 
seas  and  condemned  in  English  courts,  Frederic,  without  a 
treaty,  resting  only  on  the  law  of  nations,  indeumified  his  sub- 
jects for  tlinir  losses  by  retaliations  on  England.     The  neutral 
flag  found  protection  in  the  counnercial  treaty  negotiated  in 
1700  by  the  Rockingham  ministry  with  Russia,  wiiose  interests 
as  the  pr(iducer  of  hemp  recpured  the  strictest  deHuition  of 
contraband.     Of  thirty-seven  European  treaties  made  between 
1715  and  17S0,  but  two  have  been  found  whicli  contain  con- 
ditions contravening  neutral  riirhts. 

In  1778  England  desired  an  .-ffensive  and  defensive  alli- 
ance with  Rus-^ia  and  with  die  Dut.jh  n  public.  To  the  re- 
newed overture,  Count  T  iilii,  t'  o  only  Russian  statesman 
nuich  listened  to  ''V  the  em]>ic  v-  'n  the  discussion  of  foreign 
affairs,  replied  that  Russia  never  would  stipulate  advantages  to 
Groat  Pritain  in  'ts  (-"Ontest  with  its  colonies,  and  *' never 
would  guarantee  its  i\!iu-:-ican  dominions."  After  tlie  avowal 
by  France  of  .Us  trc  'ties  witi'  the  colonies,  Harris,  the  P.ritish 
minister  at  Petersburg  n^k;;!  an  audience  of  the  empress;  his 
request  was  refused,  and  .-dl  his  complaints  of  the  "  court  of 


1778. 


THE  ARMED  NEUTRALITY. 


343 


Versailles  drew  from  her  only  civil  words  and  lukewarm  ex- 
pres^ions  of  friendship."  But  when,  in  the  smnmer  of  i778 
ail  American  privateer  hovered  off  the  North  Cape  and  took 
seven  or  more  British  vessels  bound  for  Archangel  Panin  in- 
formed Harris  ministerially  that,  so  long  as  the  British  treated 
the  Americans  as  rebels,  the  court  of  Petersburg  would  look 
upon  them  as  a  people  not  yet  entitled  to  recogir'tion 

Long  years  of  peace  had  enriched  the  Dutch  re])ul)lic  by 
prosperous  manufactures  and  commerce.     It  rras  the  leadmff 
neutral  power;  but  the  honor  of  its  tla.o;  was  endangered  by 
the  defects  m  its  consti  ^  ution,  of  which  the  forms  of  procedure 
tended  to  anarchy.     Its  stadholder,  AVilHam  V.  of  tlie  house 
of  Orange,  a  young  and  incompetent  piincc,  withouc  self-reli- 
ance and  without  noblel^x.8  of  r. -ture,  was  haunted  by  the  be- 
hel  that  his  own  position  could  l)e  preserved  only  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Great  Britain ;  and  from  dynastic  selhshness  followed 
the  counsels  of  that  power,     ^r  was  his  sense  of  honor  so 
nice  as  to  save  him  from  asking  and  accepting  money  from  the 
British  crown.     His  chief  personal  counsellor  was  his  former 
guardian  Prince  Louis  of  Brunswick.     No  man  could  he  less 
inlluenced  by  motives  of  morality  or  fidelity  to  the  land  in 
whose  anny  he  served,  and  he  was  always  at  the  b.dc  of  the 
British  amlxassador  at  the  Hague.     Fagel,  the  se.retarv,  was 
dcvo  ed  to  England.     The  grand  pensionary,  Yan  BleisVijck, 
who  had  been  the  selection  of  Pnnce  Louis,  was  a  weak  poli^ 
tican  ard  mc.med  to  England,  but  never  meant  to  betray  his 
country.     Ihus  all  the  principal  executive  officers  were  at- 
tacaed  ,■  Great  13ritain ;  Prince  Louis  and  the  secretary  Fagel 
as  obsequious  vassals. 

^  Fn-co  had  a  controlhng  influence  in  no  one  of  the  prov- 
inces; K.t,  in  the  city  of  vVmsterdam,  Van  Berckel,  its  pen- 
sionnrv  was  her  "friend."  in  Januaiy  1778,  before  her  imp- 
;v.ro  .nth  England,  tlie  French  am])assador  at  the  Hague  was 
instructed  to  suggest  a  convention  between  the  states-general, 
J<  ranco,  and  Spain,  for  lil)erty  of  navigation.  As  the  proi)o^:ai 
^'as  put  aside  hythe  grand  pensionary,  Vergennes  asked  that 
tlie  Netherlands  m  the  coming  contest  would  a.inounce  to  the 
eo..rt  of  Loiulon  their  neutrality,  and  support  it  without  con- 
cessions.    "The  Dutch,"  Yergennes  observed,  "will  find  in 


^:  ll'ilM 


, '  ,v 


-If 


ifftl 


Irff   !"  r 


SU    AMEKICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    eimv.  ;  cri,  xxii. 

their  own  history  an  ai^ology  for  the  French  treaty  with  Amer- 
ica." From  tlic  interior  condition  of  the  Netherlands,  their  ex- 
cessive taxes,  tlieir  weakness  on  sea  and  land,  and  the  precarions 
condition  of  their  possessions  in  the  two  Indies,  they  songht 
scrnpnlously  to  maintain  their  neutrality.  As  England  did  not 
disguise  her  aggressive  intentions,  the  city  of  Amsterdam  and 
Van  I'erekel  sought  to  strengthen  the  Dutch  navy,  but  were 
thwarted  by  Prince  Lonis,  Fagel,  and  the  stadhulder.  The 
Dutch  were  brave,  provident,  and  capable  of  acts  of  mag- 
nanimity ;  but  they  were  betraj'ed  by  their  executive. 

In  April  17TS,  the  American  commissioners  at  Paris — 
Franklin,  Ai'thur  Lee,  and  John  Adams— in  a  letter  to  the 
grand  pensionary,  Yan  lileiswijek,  proposed  a  good  under- 
standing and  conuueree  between  tlie  two  nations,  and  prom- 
ised to  communicate  to  the  states -general  their  couuuercial 
treaty  with  France.  The  Dutch  government,  through  all  its 
organs,  met  this  only  overture  of  the  Americans  by  total  neglect. 
It  was  neltii(}r  answered  nor  put  in  deliberation.  The  British 
secretary  of  state  could  liud  no  ground  for  complaint  wliatever. 
Still  the  mei-chants  of  Amsterdam  saw  in  the  independence 
of  the  Fnited  States  a  virtual  i-epeal  of  the  British  navigation 
acts  ;  and  the  most  pleasing  historical  recollections  of  the  Dutch 
peo2)le  Avere  i-evived  by  the  rise  of  the  new  repu])lic. 

In  the  following  July  the  king  of  France  published  a  decla- 
ration protecting  neutral  ships,  though  carrying  contraband 
goods  to  or  from  hostile  ports,  unless  the  contraband  exceeded 
in  value  three  fourths  of  the  cargo.  But  the  right  was  reserved 
to  revoke  these  orders  if  Great  Britain  should  not  within  six 
months  grant  reciprocity. 

The  connnercial  treaty  between  Franco  and  the  United 
States  was,  al)out  the  same  time,  delivered  to  tlu;  grand  pen- 
sionary and  to  the  peiisi(jnary  of  Amsterdam.  The  grand  pen- 
sionary took  no  notice  of  it  whatever.  Yan  Berckel,  in  the 
name  of  the  regency  of  Amsterdam,  wrote  to  an  American 
coiTospondent  at  the  IL.guo  ''With  the  new  republic,  clearly 
raised  up  by  the  lielj)  ol'  Providence,  we  desire  leagues  of 
amity  and  commerce  which  shall  st  to  the  end  of  time." 
Yet  ho  acknowledged  that  theso  wishes  were  the  Avishes  of 
a  single  city,  which   cuuld  not   bind  even    the  province  to 


^"'■^^i^rV 


1778. 


THE  ARMED  NEUIRALITY. 


345 


wliidi  It  belonged.  Wot  one  province,  nor  one  city ;  not  ITol- 
land,  nor  Amsterdam  ;  no,  not  even  one  single  man,  whether 
in  authority  or  in  Immble  life-appears  to  have  expected 
planned,  or  wished  a  breach  with  England  ;  and  to  the  last  th'>y 
rejected  the  idea  of  a  war  with  that  power  as  an  impossibilitv 
The  American  commissioners  at  Paris,  being  indirectly  invited 
by  Yan  Berckel  to  renew  the  offer  of  a  treaty  of  conunerce  be- 
tween the  two  republics,  declined  to  do  so;  for,  as  the  grand 
pensionary  had  not  replied  to  their  letter  written  some  montlis 
before,  "they  apprehended  that  any  further  motion  of  that 
kmd  on  their  part  would  not  at  present  be  agreeable." 

Meantime,  oue  Jan  de  Neufville,  an  Amsterdam  merchant, 
who  wished  his  house  recommended  to  good  American  mer- 
cliants  and  had  promised  more  about  an  American  loan  than 
he  could  make  good,  had  come  in  some  way  to  know  William 
Lee,  an  alderman  of  London  as  well  as  an  American  commis- 
sioner to  Vienna  and  Berlin,  and,  with  the  leave  of  the  bur^ro- 
masters  of  Amsterdam,  met  him  at  Aix-la-Chai)elle  and  con- 
certed terms  for  a  commercial  convention,  proper  in  due  time 
to  be  entered  into  between  the  two  repul)lics.     The  act  was  a 
nullity.  ^  When  Lee  communicated  to  the   commissioners  at 
Pans  this  jiroject  of  a  convention,  they  reminded  him  that 
the  authority  for  treating  with  their  high  mightinesses  be- 
longed exclusively  to  themselves.      The  American  congress 
took  no  notice  of  his  intermeddling,  and  in  the  followino- 
June  dismissed  him  from  its  service.     Amsterdam  disclahned 
"the  absurd  design  of  concluding  a  convention  independent 
of  their  high  mightinesses."     "  The  burgomasters  only  prom- 
ised their  inlluence  in  favor  of  a  treaty  of  amity  between  the 
two  powers,  when  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America  should  be  recognised  by  the  English." 

To  gel-  rid  of  everything  of  which  England  could  complain, 
the  oiler  made  in  April  by  Franklin,  Arllinr  Lee,  and  John 
Adams,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  between  America 
and  the  Netherlands,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  commercial 
treaty  between  the  United  States  and  France,  was,  near  the 
end  of  October,  communicated  to  the  states-general.  They 
promptly  consigned  it  to  rest  in  the  manner  which  met  exactly 
the  "hope"  of  the  British  secretary  of  state. 


11 


JM 


i-  it 


340     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


KP.  IV. ;  en.  XXII. 


I   ( 


I   11 


i;  1  ; 


I  ! 


ril^^l 


During  the  summer  of  1778,  British  cruisers  and  priva- 
teers scoured  tlie  seas  in  quest  of  booty.  Other  nations  suf- 
fered,  but  none  like  tlie  Netherlands.  To  tlieir  complaints 
that  the  clearest  language  of  treaties  was  disregarded,  the  earl 
of  Suffolk  ans>vered  that  the  British  ambassador  at  the  Hague 
should  have  instructions  to  negotiate  with  the  republic  ne\v 
stipulations  for  the  future  ;  but  for  the  present,  treaty  or  no 
treaty,  England  would  not  suifer  materials  for  ship-building  to 
be  taken  by  the  Dutch  to  any  French  port ;  and  its  cruisers 
and  its  admiralty  were  instructed  accordingly.  The  stadholder 
brought  all  his  influence  to  the  side  of  England.  On  the  tJiir- 
tieth  of  December  1778,  the  states-general  asserted  their  right 
to  the  connncrcial  freedom  guaranteed  by  the  law  of  nations 
and  by  treaties ;  and  yet  of  their  own  choice  voted  to  withhold 
convoys,  where  the  use  of  them  would  involve  a  conflict  with 
Great  Britain. 

In  the  same  year  the  flag  of  Denmark,  of  Sweden,  and 
of  Prussia  had  been  disregarded  by  British  privateers,  and  the 
three  powers  severally  demanded  of  England  explanations. 
Yergeimes  seized  the  opportunity  to  flx  the  attention  of  Count 
Panin.  "  The  empress,"  so  he  wrote  toward  the  end  of  the 
year  to  the  French  minister  in  Russia,  "  will  give  a  great 
proof  of  her  dignity  and  equity  if  she  will  make  common 
cause  with  Sweden,  Denmark,  Ilolland,  and  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia." "  She  would  render  to  Europe  a  great  service  if  slie 
would  bring  the  king  of  England  to  juster  principles  on  tlie 
freedom  of  navigaticm  of  neutral  ships.  IIoHand  arms  its  ves- 
sels to  convoy  its  merchant  fleet ;  Denmark  announces  that  in 
the  spring  it  M-ill  send  out  a  squadron  for  the  same  object ; 
Sweden  will  be  obliged  to  take  the  like  resolution.  So  many 
arrangements  can  easily  give  rise  to  troublesome  incidents,  and 
kindle  a  general  maritime  war.  It  woidd  be  easy  for  tlie  cm- 
press  to  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  commerce  of  Russia  by 
supporting  with  energetic  representations  those  of  other  neu- 
tral nations." 

Tlie  Swedish  envoy,  in  an  interview  with  Panin,  invited 
the  Russian  court  to  join  that  of  Stockholm  in  forming  a 
combined  fleet  to  protect  the  trade  of  the  North.  Denmark, 
he    said,    would   no   doubt   subscribe    to   the   plan,    and  the 


111 


n  ii 


1778-1779.  THE  AEMED  NEUTRALITY.  347 

commerce  of  the  three  countries,  now  eo  interrupted,  would 
no  longer  be  molested.     The  summons  was  heard  willingly 
by  I  auin,  who,  on  one  of  the  last  days  of  December,  spoke 
to  the  Lntish  minister  very  plainly :   "  Denmark,  Sweden, 
and  llolland  have  respectively  sohcited  the  empress  to  ioin 
with  them  m  a  representation  to  you  on  this  sul)iect ;  and 
she  cannot  see  with  indifference  the  commerce  of  the  I^orth 
so  much  molested  by  your  privateers.     The  vague  and  un- 
certain definition  given  by  you  to  naval  and  warlike  stores 
exposes  ahnost  aU  the  productions  of  these  parts  to  be  se- 
questered.    It  becomes  the  empress,  a«  a  leading  power  on 
t  lis  side  Europe,  to  expostulate  M-ith  you  and  express  her 
desire  of  some  alteration  in  your  regulations,  and  more  circum- 
spection in  your  mode  of  proceeding  against  the  ships  of  neu- 
tral states.      Ihe  British  minister  defended  the  Eritish  defini- 
ion  of  '  naval  stores."     Count  Panin  answered  with  a  smile : 
•Accustomed  to  command  at  sea,  your  language  on  maritime 
subjects  IS  always  too  positive."    Harris  deprecated  any  formal 
remonstrance  against  the  British  treatment  of  neutral  powers 
as  an  appearance  of  disunion  between  the  two  courts.     Panin 
rephed  :  "  I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  say  what  you  do,  as  I  have 
tiie  orders  ot  the  empress  to  prepare  a  representation  " 

Tlie  plan  of  Russia  for  1779  aimed  at  no  more  than  an 
agreement  with  Denmark  and  Sweden  to  exclude  privateers 
Iroui  the  iSorth  Sea  near  their  coasts  and  from  the  Baltic.    As 
jUe  luissian  trade  was  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  the 
Liiglish,  this  action  of  Catharine  would  in  practice  be  little 
more  than  a  safeguard  to  English  commerce.     The  cabinet  of 
iM-aiice  feared  that  the  consoHdated  group  of  northern  states 
nught  be  drawn  into  connection  with  England.     At  this  st^ige, 
by  the  explanations  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  who  through  tlie 
mediation  of  Russia  and  France  was  just  emerging  from  his 
Austrian  war,  every  doubt  was  removed  from  the  mind  of 
V  ergennes ;  and  his  answer  to  the  Russian  note  drew  from 
1  anin  the  remark  to  the  French  minister  at  Petersburg :  "  Once 
more  I  give  you  my  word  that  we  have  no  engagement  with 
England  whatever." 

The  oppressed  maritime  powers  continued  to  lay  their 
complaints  Wore  the  empress  of  Russia;  so  that  the  study 


■if 


1:i 


I 


348    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     eimv.;  on.  xxn. 


arr " 


■ill 


of  neutral  riglits  occu])iecl  licr  mind  till  she  came  to  cou- 
sider  herself  t^ingled  out  to  take  the  lead  in  their  defence. 

When,  in  the  middle  of  July,  Harris  presented  the  Span- 
1  '"i  declaration  of  war  against  England  to  Count  Panin,  he 
replied  ministerially:  "  Great  Britain  has  hy  its  own  haughty 
conduct  brought  down  all  its  misfortunes  on  itself ;  they  are 
now  at  their  height ;  you  must  consent  t(^  any  concessions  to 
obtain  peace  ;  and  you  can  expect  neither  assistance  from  your 
friends  nor  forbearance  from  your  enemies."  In  subsec^uent 
conversations,  Panin  ever  held  the  same  language. 

"  Count  Panin,"  wrote  Harris,  "  receives  every  idea  from 
his  Prussian  majesty,  and  adopts  it  without  reflection;"  and 
the  indefatigable  envoy,  giving  up  all  hope  of  reclaiming  him, 
undertook  to  circumvent  him  througli  the  intluence  of  Prince 
Potendvin,  wiio  possessed  rare  ability  and  occupied  a  position 
of  undefined  and  almost  unlimited  infhience  with  the  army, 
the  Greek  church,  and  the  nobility.  I'y  descent  and  character 
he  was  a  true  representative  of  Russiau  nationality.  Leaving 
the  two  chief  maritime  powers  of  western  Eurojjo,  both  of 
whom  wished  to  preserve  the  Ottoman  empire  in  its  integrity, 
to  wear  each  other  out,  Potemkin  used  the  moment  of  the 
American  war  to  annex  the  Crimea. 

Harris  professed  to  believe  that  for  eighty  thousand  pounds 
he  could  purchase  the  influence  of  this  extraordinary  man ; 
but  Potemkin  could  not  be  reached.  He  almost  never  ap- 
peared at  court  or  in  company.  No  foreign  minister  could 
see  him  except  by  asking  specially  for  an  interview ;  no  one  of 
them  was  ever  admitted  to  his  domestic  society  or  his  confi- 
dence. Those  who  knew  him  best  agree  that  he  was  too  proud 
to  take  money  from  a  foreign  power,  and  he  never  deviated 
from  his  Ivussian  policy ;  so  that  the  enormous  bribes  which 
were  designed  to  gain  him  were  srpumdered  on  his  intimates. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  aware  how  much  he  would  gain  hy 
lulling  the  British  government  into  actpiiescence  in  his  Ori- 
ental schemes  of  atrgi'andizement. 

"Without  loss  of  time,  Harris  proposed  to  Potemkin  that 
the  empress  should  make  a  strong  declaration  at  Versailles  and 
Madrid,  4nd  second  it  by  arming  all  her  navd  force.  To  this 
Potemkin  objected,  that  both  the  Russian  ministers  who  would 


1770. 


THE  ARMED  KEUTRAUTY. 


3-19 

bo  conccmcd  in  executing  tl.o  project  would  oppose  it.    liar, 
r.  ncvt  su„«l   leave  to  plead  J.is  cause  in  per™  bofoTe 
Cat.ar,„e   l,e,«el  .     O.   the  second  or  Augustf  the   favorite 
of  tl,e  tunc  euuducted  him  by  a  back  wa/int:,  her  private 
rou,„    aud   „umed,ately  retired.     The  cuprens  .U^.LoZ 
"...  h  a»kn,g  .t  he   wa.  actiug  under  i„.tr„etiou/ne 
l.aa  ..0..C ;  ami  jet  he  renewed  hi,  request  for  her  armed 
n>«llat,on.     She  excused  herself  fro.u  plunging  her  eZre 
...to  fresh  troubles;  then  discoursed  on' th '  Au.ericau  wlr 
....a  hrnted  that  Kngland  could  in  a  n.oment  restore  peace 
by  ronouncu,g  ,ts  colonics.     The  council  of  state,  to  wUch 
the  ,i„est,on  was   referred,  unanin.ously  refused  to  change 
.ts  for-cjgn  pohey.     To  the  count  of  Goertz,   the    new   1?^ 
very  able  envoy  of  Frederic  at  Petersburg,  Pa„i„  „,"„|j"^ 
.s  ..u,er„,ost  thoughts.      "The   British   ,!;inister,"  " dd  he 
as  he  n,al<cs  no  jnipression  on  me  by  sounding  the  tocsin' 
a|.,|hes  to  others  less  well   informed;   but   I  an.™cr  for  mj 
abd. ty  to  susta,n  my  Bystcni.     It  would    he  no  l„u-ni  for 
J..,gand  to  meet  with  some  \<m."     "The  balance  of  power 
...  turope,"  wrote  rrederie,  "will  not  be  disturbed  l,J7nt 
lands^losmg  possessions  here  and  there  in  other  parts  of  tlfe 

During  the  same  year,  1779,  the  Netheriands  continued 
Erih  :'■  r"  ""  -,>«-'-g  "gg-sions  of  France  and  G^^S 
L.itam.  I''--'.>»e80ughtto„,flueneethestatcs.gcneralbycoufin- 
...g  .ts  concession  of  eonnncreial  advantage,  inFrench  pJs  to 

I"  l....d  It  «as  cai-ned  for  all  merchant  vessels  destined  to  the 
ports  of  France  by  a  g™t  majority,  Rotterdam  and  the  "the 
.-l..ef  cities  joming  Amsterdam,  and  the  nobles  being  eqnallv 

.VHled;  but  the  states-genei.l,  iu  which  Zealand  wasSwed 
I J  Geldcriand,  Groningen,  and  0vei7.,sel,  from  motives  of  nrn 

once  rejected  the  resolution.    Notwithstanding  tr,noder^" 

t'ch  rrf  '™"  *''^  ''"«*  ''""»-'"'■•  -n"....eed  tte 

vith  F,r         !?"'^'"S  ""'l"='- 1"  P°rts  of  France,  as  by  treaty 

.th  England    hey  had  the  -Ignt  to  do,  would  be  seized,  even 

S't  T  ^•;"'"^-.°f-."-  I"'^«-'«»n  within  the'prr. 
.nec»  a  the  want  of  patriotism  in  the  prince  of  Orange  men- 
ded h«  prerogatives  as  stadholdcr,  and  even  tlie  unbn  it"  «. 


it- 


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.'{50      AMICUK'A  IN  ALLIANC3K  WITH  FItANCK.     kp.  iv.;  cii.  xxii. 

On  o\u)  occasion  five  towns  voted  in  the  states  of  Ilollund  I'or 
witiilioldini"-  the  quota  of  tlieir  p'-ovincc;. 

Great  ISritain,  in  ,luly  ITTtt,  (leniaiideil  of  the  state8-f?eneral 
the  succor  stii)nlated  in  the  treaties  of  1<»7S  and  tlie  separate 
article  of  ITK' ;  Imt  they  denied  that  any  case  under  the  treaties 
Imd  arisen,  and  insisttid  that  Kii^dand  ini;;ht  not  at  will  dlsre- 
K-ard  onn  treaty  and  claim  the  bent  lit  of  others. 

AVhile  tiie  Uritisli  were  complaining  that  nine  or  ten 
American  nwrchant  vessels  had  entered  the  port  of  Amster- 
dam, a  now  cause  of  irritation  arose.  Near  the  end  of  -Inly, 
Paul  Jones,  a  Scot  by  birth,  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
sailed  from  TOrient  as  comiuaiider  of  a  wpiadron,  consisting 
of  the  I'oor  Richard  of  forty  guns,  many  of  them  unservice- 
able;  tlie  Alliance  of  thirty-six  gir.<,  both  American  ships-of- 
war;  the  Pallas,  a  French  frign  <d'  thirty-two;  and  the 
Vengeance,  a  French  brig  of  twelve  guns.  They  ranged  the 
western  coast  of  Ireland,  turned  Scotland,  and,  cruising  off 
Flamborough  Head,  descried  the  Prilish  merchant  fleet  from 
the  Baltic,  under  the  convoy  of  the  Sera])is  of  forty-four  guns 
ami  the  Countvss  of  Scarborough  of  twenty  guns. 

An  hour  after  sunset,  on  the  twenty-third  of  Si'ptemlxM-, 
the  Serapis,  having  a  great  superiority  in  strength,  engaged 
the  Poor  Richard.     Paul  J(.nes,  after  suifering  exceedingly  in 
a  contest  of  an  hour  and  a  half  within  nmsket-shot,  bore  down 
upon  liis  adversary,  who-^i;  anchor  he  hooked  to  his  own  quar- 
ter.    The  nmzzles  of  their  guns  touched  each  other's  sides. 
Jones  could  use  only  three  nine-pounders  beside  nniskets  from 
the  round -tops,  but  combustible  nuitters  were  thrown  into 
every  pnrt  of  the  Serajiis,  which  was  on  fire  no  less  than  ten 
or  twelve  times.     There  were  moments  when  both  ships  were 
on  tire.     After  a  two-hours'  conflict  in  the  first  watch  of  the 
night,  the  Serapis  struck  its  flag.     Jones  raised  his  pendant  on 
the  captured  frigate,  and  the  next  day  had  but  time  to  transfer 
to  it  his  wounded  men  and  his  crew  before  the  Poor  Rlcliard 
wont  down.    The  Frenc^h  frigate  engaged  and  captured  the 
Countess  of  Scarborough.     The  Alliance,  which  from  a  dis- 
tance had  raked  the  Serapis  during  the  action,  not  without  iu- 
juring  the  Poor  Eichard,  had  not  a  man  injured.    On  tlic  fourth 
of  October  the  squadron  entered  the  Texol  with  its  prizes. 


!■!■ 


1779-1780. 


THE  AHMED  NEUTUALITY. 


351 


TIhi  Pritisli  jimLiiHsador,  of  liiinsclf  and  aji^aiii  under  instnic- 
tloiiH,  reclaimed  tlie  captured  llrillsh  .Jiips  and  their  crews, 
"who  had  hem  taken  hy  tlie  ])irato  J*aul  .loneH  of  Scotland,  a 
rehel  and  a  traitor."  "They,"  ho  insiHted,  "are  to  be  treated 
as  ])irate8  whoso  letters  of  marquo  have  not  emanated  from  a 
Hoverei^,'!!  power."  The  grand  pensicjnary  woukl  not  apply 
the  name  of  piratt;  to  olllcers  bearing  the  connnissions  of  con- 
gress. In  spite  of  the  stadholder,  tlie  H(jiiailron  enjoyed  the 
protection  of  a  neutral  j)ort.  Under  an  antedated  comuiission 
from  the  French  king,  the  flag  of  L'ranco  was  raised  over  the 
two  prizes  and  every  ship  but  the  Alliance ;  and,  four  days 
before  the  end  of  the  year,  I'aul  Jones  with  his  Knglish  cap- 
tures left  the  Tcxel. 

An  American  frigate,  near  the  end  of  September,  en- 
tered the  port  of  Bergen  with  two  rich  prizes.  Yielding  to 
the  Jh'itish  envoy  at  Coperdiagen,  Bernstorll",  the  Danisli  min- 
ister, seized  the  occasion  to  i)ul)lish  an  ordinance  forbidding 
the  sale  of  i)rize8  until  they  sliould  have  been  condemned  in 
a  court  of  admiralty  of  the  nation  of  the  privateer;  and  he 
s]i])ped  into  the  ordinii.  i;  the  di'claration  that,  as  the  king  of 
I)ennuu-k  had  recognised  neither  the  independence  nor  the 
ilag  of  America,  its  vessels  could  not  be  sull'ered  to  bring  their 
l)i-izes  into  Danish  harl)ors.  T^io  two  which  had  been  brought 
into  JJergcn  were  set  free ;  but,  to  avo^-d  continual  reclamations, 
two  others,  which  in  December  were  taken  to  Christiansand, 
were  only  forced  to  leave  the  harbor. 

Wrapt  up  in  the  belief  that  he  had  "  brought  the  empress 
to  the  verge  of  standing  forth  as  the  professed  friend  of  Great 
Britain,"  Harris  thought  he  had  only  to  meet  li"r  objection  of 
his  having  acted  without  instructions;  and,  at  his  instance, 
(ieorge  III.,  in  Nov,  ,;.oer,  by  an  autogra])li  letter,  entreated 
her  armed  mediation  agr.inst  the  house  of  Bourbon.  ''  I  ad- 
mire," so  he  addressed  her,  "  the  grandeur  of  your  talents,  the 
nobleness  of  your  sentiments,  and  the  extent  of  your  intelli- 
gence." "  The  mere  show  of  naval  force  could  break  up  the 
hnigue  formed  against  me,  and  maintain  the  balance  of  power 
which  this  league  seeks  to  destroy."  xV  writing  from  Har- 
ris, in  which  he  was  lavish  of  flattery,  accouijKuiiid  the  let- 
ter; and  he  oHered,  unconditionally,  an  alliance  with  Great 


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352     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv. ;  on.  xxii. 


'i'i 


Britain,   including  even  a  guarantee    against  the  Ottoman 
Porte. 

The  answer  was  prepared  by  Panin  without  delay.  The 
empress  loves  peace,  and  therefore  refuses  an  armed  interven- 
tion, which  could  only  prolong  the  war.  She  holds  the  time 
ill  chosen  for  a  defensive  alhance,  since  England  is  engaged  in 
a  war  not  appertaining  to  possessions  in  Europe ;  but,  if  the 
court  of  London  will  offer  terms  which  can  serve  as  a  basis  of 
reconciliation  between  the  belhgerent  powers,  she  will  eagerly 
employ  her  mediation. 

In  very  bad  humor,  Harris  rushed  to  Potemkin  for  conso- 
lation. "  What  can  have  operated  so  singular  a  revolution  ? " 
demanded  he,  with  eagerness  and  anxiety.  Potemkin,  cajoling 
him,  replied  :  "  Count  Panin  times  his  councils  with  address ; 
my  influence  is  at  an  end." 

The  Russian  envoy  at  London,  and  the  envoys  of  Sweden, 
Denmark,  tbe  Netherlands,  and  Prussia,  delivered  memorials 
to  the  British  government.  To  detach  Eussia  from  the  other 
complainants,  Harris,  in  January  1780,  gave  a  written  promise 
"that  the  navigation  of  the  subjects  of  the  empress  should 
never  be  interrupted  by  vessels  of  Great  Britain." 

The  spirit  of  moderation  prevailed  in  the  councils  of  the 
Netherlands.  Even  the  provmce  of  Holland  had  imreservedly 
withdrawn  its  obnoxious  demands.  On  the  evening  before 
the  twenty-seventh  of  December  1779,  seventeen  Dutch  mer- 
chant vessels,  laden  with  hemp,  iron,  pitch,  and  tar,  left  the 
Texel  under  the  escort  of  five  ships-of-war,  commanded  by 
the  Count  de  Bylandt.  In  the  English  channel,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  thirtieth,  they  descried  a  British  fleet,  by  which 
they  were  surrounded  just  before  sunset.  The  Dutch  admiral 
refusing  to  permit  his  convoy  to  be  visited,  Fielding,  the 
British  commander,  replied  that  it  would  then  be  done  by  force. 
During  the  parley,  night  came  on ;  and  twelve  of  the  seventeen 
ships,  taking  advantage  of  the  darkness  and  a  fair  wind,  es- 
caped through  the  British  lines  to  French  ports.  The  English 
shallop,  which  the  next  morning  at  nine  would  have  visited 
the  remaining  five  ships,  was  fired  upon.  At  this,  the  British 
flag-ship  and  two  others  fired  on  the  Dutch  flag-ship.  The 
ship  was  hit,  but  no  one  was  killed  or  wounded.     "  Let  us  go 


1780. 


THE  ARMED  NEUTRALITY. 


353 

down,"  said  the  Dutch  crews  to  one  another,  "  rather  than  fall 
mto  a  shameful  captivity ; »  but  their  admiral,  considering  that 
the  Bntish  force  wa^  more  than  three  times  greater  than  his 
own,  after  returning  the  broadside,  struck  his  flag.  Fielding 
carried  the  five  merchant  ships  as  prizes  into  Portsmouth 

This  outrage  on  the  Netherlan  Is  tended  to  rouse  and  unite 
all  parties  aud  aU  provinces.     But  another  power  beside  Enjr 
land  had  disturbed  neutral  rights.    Fearing  that  supplies  might 
be  carried  to  Gibraltar,  Spain  had  given  an  order  to  brhig 
into  Cadiz  all  neutral  ships  bound  with  provisions  for  the 
Mediterranean,  and  to  sell  their  cargoes  to  the  highest  bidder 
In  tne  last  part  of  the  year  1779  the  orde^  had  been  applied  to 
the  Concordia,  a  Russian  vessel  carrying  wheat  to  Barcelona. 
Hams,  who  received  the  news  in  advance,  hurried  to  Potemldn 
with  a  paper,  in  which  he  proved  from  this  example  what 
terrible  things  might  be  expected  from  the  house  of  Bourbon 
It  they  should  acquire  maritime  superiority.     On  reading  this 
paragraph,  Potemkin  cried  out:  "You  have  the  empress  now. 
fehe  abhors  the  inquisition,  and  will  never  suffer  its  precepts 
to  be  exercised  on  the  high  seas."     A  strong  memorial  was 
dra.^  up  under  the  inspection  of  the  empress  herself;  and 
a  Reference  to  the  just  reproaches  of  the  courts  of  Madrid 
and  Versailles  against  Great  Britain  for  troubling  the  liberty 
of  commerce  was  added  by  her  own  express  ordcit 

Ilardly  had  the  Spanish  representative  at  Petersburg  for- 
warded the  memorial  by  a  courier  to  his  government  when 
letters  from  the  Eussian  consul  at  Cadiz  announced  that  the 
St.  I^icholas  bearing  the  Russinn  flag  and  bound  with  com  to 
Malaga,  had  been  brought  into     adiz,  its  cargo  disposed    f  by 
auction,  and  its  crew  treated  with  inhumanity.     The  empress 
telt  this  second  aggression  as  a  deliberate  outrage  on  her  flag  • 
and,  following  the  impulses  of  her  o^.^l  mind,  she  seized  the' 
opportunity  to  adopt,  seemingly  on  the  urgencv  of  Great 
J>ntain,_a  general  measure  for  the  protection  of  th^  commerce 
ot  Russia  as  a  neutral  power  against  all  the  belligerents  and 
on  every  sea     She  preceded  the  measure  by  signing  an  order 
for  arming  fifteen  ships  of  the  line  and  five  frigates  for  service 
early  m  the  spring. 

She  further  signed  letters,  prepared  by  her  private  secre- 


\  i 


354     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xxri, 

tary,  to  her  envoys  in  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  the  Hague, 
before  she  informed  her  minister  for  foreign  affairs  of  what 
had  been  done.  A  Eussian  courier  was  expedited  to  Stock- 
holm, and  thence  to  Copenhagen,  the  Hague,  Paris,  and  Mad- 
rid. On  the  twenty-second  of  Febniary  1780,  Potemkin 
announced  the  measure  to  Harris,  by  the  special  comm.  nd  of 
the  empress.  "  The  ships,"  said  the  prii  3,  "  will  be  supposed 
to  protect  the  Eussian  trade  against  every  power,  hut  they  are 
meant  to  chastise  the  Spaniards,  whose  insolence  the  empress 
cannot  brook."  Harris  "  told  him  that  it  was  no  more  than 
the  system  of  giving  protection  to  trade,  suggested  last  year 
by  the  three  northern  courts,  now  carried  into  execution." 
Potemkin,  professing  to  be  "ahnost  out  of  humor  with  his 
backwardness  to  admit  the  great  advantage  England  would 
derive  from  the  step,"  rejoined :  "  I  am  just  come  from  the 
empress  ;  it  is  her  particular  order  that  I  tell  it  to  you.  She 
commanded  me  to  lose  no  time  in  finding  you  out.  She  said 
she  knew  it  would  give  you  pleasure ;  and,  beside  myself,  you 
are  at  this  moment  the  only  person  acquainted  with  her  de- 
sign." He  ended  by  urging  Harris  to  despatch  his  messenger 
immediately  with  the  news ;  and  accordingly  the  measure  was 
reported  to  the  British  government  by  its  own  envoy  as  a 
friendly  act  performed  at  its  own  request. 

Before  the  dispatches  of  Harris  were  on  the  road,  the  con- 
duct of  the  affair  was  intnisted  to  Panin,  who  was  suffering 
from  a  disease  which  was  bringing  him  to  the  grave.  The  last 
deed  of  the  dying  statesman  was  his  l>est. 

To  Frederic,  Goertz  made  his  report :  "  Everything  will 
depend  on  the  reply  of  the  court  of  Spain ;  at  so  important 
a  moment,  your  majesty  has  the  right  to  speak  to  it  with 
frankness."  "There  will  result  from  the  intrigue  a  matter 
the  execution  of  which  no  power  has  thus  far  been  able  to 
permit  itself  to  think  of.  All  have  believed  it  necessary  to 
establish  and  to  fix  a  public  law  for  neutral  powers  in  a  mari- 
time war ;  the  moment  has  come  for  attaining  that  end." 

These  letters  reached  Frederic  by  express;  and  on  the 
fourteenth  of  March,  by  the  swiftest  messenger,  he  instructed 
his  minister  at  Paris  as  follows :  "  Immediately  on  receiving 
the  present  order  you  will  demand  a  particular  audience  of 


irso. 


THE  ARMED  NEUTRALITY. 


865 


the  ministry  at  YerBailles ;  and  you  will  say  that  in  my  opinion 
everything  depends  on  proenring  for  Eussia,  without  the  least 
loss  of  tune,  the  satisfaction  she  exacts,  and  which  Spain  can 
tlie  less  refuse,  because  it  has  plainly  acted  with  too  much  pie- 
cipitation.  Make  the  ministry  feel  all  the  importance  of  this 
warning,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  satisfying  Russia  with- 
out the  slightest  delay  on  an  article  where  the  honor  of  her  flag 
is  so  greatly  interested. 

Vergennes  forwarded  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  Frederic  to 
the  French  ambassador  at  Madrid,  with  the  instraction :  '•  I 
should  wrong  your  penetration  and  the  sagacity  of  the  cabinet 
of  Madrid,  if  I  were  to  take  pdns  to  demonstrate  the  impor- 
tance for  the  two  crowns  to  spare  nothing  in  order  that  the 
empress  of  Russia  may  not  depart  from  the  system  of  neutral- 
ity which  she  has  embraced."  The  letter  of  Frederic  was 
communicated  to  Florida  Blanca,  and  it  was  impossible  to  re- 
sist its  advice. 

Before  a  dispatch  could  have  reached  even  the  nearest 
power,  Count  Panin  laid  before  the  empress  a  plan  for  deduc- 
ing out  of  the  passing  negotiation  a  system  of  permanent  pro- 
tection to  neutral  flags  in  a  maritime  war.  He  advised  her  to 
present  herself  to  Europe  in  an  impartial  attitude,  as  the  de- 
fender of  the  rights  of  neutrals  before  all  the  worid.  She 
would  thus  gain  a  glorious  name  as  the  law-giver  of  the  seas, 
imparting  to  commerce  in  time  of  war  a  security  such  as  it  had 
never  yet  enjoyed ;  she  would  gather  around  her  all  civilized 
states,  and  be  venerated  by  the  nations  through  coming  cen- 
turies as  the  benefactress  of  the  human  race.* 

The  opinions  of  her  minister  coinciding  with  her  own 
on  the  twenty-sixth  of  February  lYSO-that  is,  on  the  eighth 
ot  March,  new  style-Catharine  and  Panin  set  their  names 
to  the  declaration,  of  which  the  fixed  principles  are  :  Neutral 
ships  shall  enjoy  a  free  navigation  even  from  port  to  port,  and 
on  the  coasts  of  tlie  belligerent  powers.  Free  ships  free  all 
goods  except  contraband.  Contraband  are  arms  and  ammuni- 
tions of  war,  and  nothing  else.  No  pori;  is  blockaded  unless 
the  enemy's  ships,  in  adequate  number,  are  near  enough  to 

*  Compare    Goertz,   Denkwurdigkeiteu, 
meinerZult,  ii,,  113. 


\'l 


154 ;    Dohm,    Denkwiirdigkeiteu 


l.f. 


356     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  on.  xxn. 


^mflti 


make  the  entry  dangerous.  Tliese  principles  shall  rule  deci- 
sions on  the  legality  of  prizes.  "  Her  imperial  majesty,"  so 
ran  the  state  paper,  "  in  manifesting  these  princi])les  before  all 
Europe,  is  firmly  resolved  to  maintain  them.  Slie  haa  there- 
fore given  an  order  to  fit  out  a  considerable  portion  of  her 
naval  forces,  to  act  as  her  honor,  her  interest,  and  necessity 
may  require." 

Frederic  received  the  news  of  the  declaration  in  advance 
of  others,  and  with  all  sp^ed  used  his  influence  in  its  behalf 
at  Versailles ;  so  that  for  the  maritime  code,  which  came  upon 
Great  Britain  as  a  surprise,  a  welcome  was  prepared  in  France 
and  Madrid. 

The  empress  made  haste  to  invite  Sweden,  Denmark,  Portu- 
gal, and  the  Netherlands  to  unite  with  her  in  supporting  the 
rules  which  she  had  proclaimed.  John  Adams  applauded 
the  justice,  the  -wisdom,  and  the  humanity  of  an  association  of 
maritime  powers  agninst  violences  at  sea,  and  added  as  his 
advice  to  congress ;  "  The  abohtion  of  the  whole  doctrine  of 
contraband  w  ould  be  for  the  peace  and  happiness  of  mankind  ; 
and  I  doubt  not,  as  human  reason  advances  and  men  come  to 
be  more  sensible  of  the  benefits  of  peace  and  less  enthusiastic 
for  the  savage  glories  of  war,  all  neutral  nations  will  be  allowed 
by  universal  consent  to  carry  what  goods  they  please  in  their 
own  ships,  provided  they  are  not  bound  to  places  actually  in- 
vested by  an  enemy." 

For  the  moment  the  attention  of  Europe  was  riveted  on 
the  Netherlands. 


J780.         WAR  OF  BRITAIN  ON  THE  NETHERLANDS. 


.357 


CHAPTEE   XXni. 

GREAT  BEITAIN   MAKES   WAR  ON   THE  NETHERLANDS. 

1780-1781. 

TriE  successor  of  Lord  Weymouth  .vas  Lord  Stonaont,  the 
k te  British  ambassador  at  Paris.  He  had  an  unbounded  eon- 
hdence  m  the  spirit  and  resources  of  his  country:  but  this 
confidence  took  the  worst  forms  of  haughty  blindness  to  moral 
distinctions  m  dealing  vvith  foreign  powers.  To  complaints 
by  the  Dutch  of  the  outrage  on  their  flag,  he  answered  by  in- 
terpreting treaties  contrary  to  their  plain  meaning,  and  then  by 
Haying:  We  are  determined  to  persist  in  the  line  of  conduct 
we  have  taken,  be  the  consequences  what  they  may  " 

The  British  ministry  sent  the  case  of  the'  Dutch  merchant 
vessels  that  had  been  carried  into  Portsmouth  to  the  court  of 
a^lmiralty  where  Sir  James  Mariott,  the  judge,  thus  laid  down 
the  law:  "It  imports  little  "whether  the  blockade  be  made 
across  the  narrows  at  Dover  or  off  the  harbor  at  Brest  or 
L  Orient.  If  you  are  taken,  you  are  blocked.  Great  Britain 
by  her  insular  position,  blocks  naturally  all  the  ports  of  Spain 
and  France.  She  has  a  right  to  avail  herself  of  this  position 
a  a  gift  of  Providence."  Swayed  by  the  more  Weighty 
members  of  the  republic,  the  stadholder  addressed  a  repre- 
sentation to  the  empress  of  Eussia  for  concert  in  the  defence 
o±  neutral  flags      Before  it  was  received  at  Petersburg,  Prince 

At?T>;«n  rf  T  '""'^"^  '^  *^^"  ^^^"^'  ^"  '^''^  third  of 
Apiil  1780,  invited  the  states-general  to  a  union  for  the  protec- 
tion of  neutral  trade  and  navigation.  "  The  same  inntation," 
said  the  envoy  "has  been  made  to  the  courts  of  Copenhagen, 
btockhobn,  and  Lisbon,  ui  order  that  by  the  joint  endeavoS  of 


H 


:  1,1 


L^f;/ 


;:E  111    ■< 


358    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    e-  iv.;  on.  xxiii. 

all  neutral  maritime  jiowers  a  natm-al  system,  t'ouuded  on  jus- 
tice, may  be  established  as  a  rule  for  future  ages."  The 
states-general  desired  to  join  in  the  association ;  but  the  stad- 
holder,  under  English  intluenco,  contrived  to  make  delay. 

England  acted  promptly.  On  the  seventeenth  an  order 
of  the  king  in  council  suspended  all  treaties  between  the  two 
countries.  In  consequence  of  this  order,  Dutch  ships  were 
taken  into  English  ports  and  condemned  by  the  admiralty,  on 
the  assumption  tliat,  French  harbors  being  naturally  blockaded 
by  those  of  England,  Dutch  ships  had  no  right  to  sail  near  them. 
France  yielded  to  Spain  the  distinction  of  being  the  Ursfc 
to  accept  the  Eussian  proposal;  and  Florida  Blanca  on  the 
eighteenth  of  April  did  it  so  heartily  that,  in  the  autobio- 
graphic report  which  he  made  of  his  administration  to  his  king, 
he  relates :  "  The  honor  of  this  successful  project  has  been 
ascribed  to  Russia,  which,  in  fact,  gave  it  support ;  but  it  had 
its  origin  in  the  cabinet  of  your  m-ajesty," 

A  week  later  France  followed  Spain,  saying :  "  Tlie  war  in 
which  the  king  is  engaged  has  no  other  object  than  the  liberty 
of  the  seas.  The  king  believed  he  had  prepared  an  epoch 
glorious  for  his  reign,  in  fixing  by  his  example  the  rights  of 
neutrals.     His  hopes  have  not  been  deceived." 

On  the  fifth  of  October  the  United  States  of  America  in 
congress,  by  a  resolution  which  Robert  R.  Livingston  drafted, 
proclaimed  the  maritime  code  of  the  empress  of  Russia,  and 
afterwards  included  it  in  their  treaties  with  the  Netherlands, 
with  Sweden,  and  with  Prussia. 

The  king  of  England  and  his  ministry  were  of  the  opinion 
that  to  tolerate  the  annod  neutrality  was  to  confess  that  Brit- 
ish supremacy  on  the  high  seas  was  broken ;  and  they  estab- 
lished two  points,  from  neither  of  which  they  would  depart : 
the  one,  to  attack  any  Netherlands  convoy ;  the  other,  to  pre- 
vent the  association  of  the  Netherlands  with  Russia  at  all 
hazards. 

Even  Lord  Shelburne,  the  chief  of  the  opposition  in  tlie 
upper  house,  condemned  the  Russian  manifesto  as  an  attempt 
by  a  "nation  scarcely  known  as  a  maritime  power  tliirty  years 
ago  to  dictate  laws  of  navigation  to  Great  Britain ; "  and  Lord 
Camden  denounced  it  as  a  dangerous  and  arbitrary  edict,  sub- 


r. ;  OH.  xxiii. 


1780.         WAR  OF  BRITAIN  m  THE  NETnERLANDS.         359 

versive  of  tlie  first  principle  of  the  law  of  nations.  Yet  the 
British  government  avoided  expressing  any  opinion  on  the  niles 
which  had  been  laid  down.  "An  ambiguous  and  trimming 
answer  was  given  :  »  such  is  the  narrative  of  Harris  «  We 
seemed  equally  afraid  to  accept  or  dismiss  the  new-fangled 
doctnnes.  I  was  instructed  secretly  to  oppose,  but  avowedly 
to  acquiesce  in  them." 

The  neutral   powers  on  the  continent,  from   Archangel 
to  Constantinople,  one  after  the  other,  accepted  the  code  of 
Catharine.     Bernstorif,  though  very  reluctant  to  do  anything 
not  agreeable  to  the  English  court  with  which  he  was  then 
conducting  a  private  negotiation  defining  contraband,  on  the 
eighth  of  July  confirmed  the  adliesion  of  Denmark  by  a  treaty 
with  Russia.    Gustavns  of  Sweden  set  forth  to  the  belligerents 
that  the  principles  of  Russia  were  his  own,  and  on  the  twenty- 
first  his  kingdom  acceded  to  the  treaty  between   Denmark 
and  Russia,  and  Denmark  to  that  between  Russia  and  Sweden 
Ihe  three  powers  agreed  to  support  each  other  against  every 
attack  by  reprisals  and  other  means.     Each  was  to  fit  out  a 
fleet,  and  the  several  commanders  were  ordered  to  protect 
every  mercantile  ship   of  the  three  nations  against  injury. 
When  m  autumn  it  came  to  light  that  Bernstorif  in  a  separate 
treaty  with  Great  Britain  had  compromised  the  rule  respect- 
ing contraband,  the  minister  was  for  the  time  dismissed  from 
office.     On  the  seventh  of  May  1781,  Frederic  of  Prussia 
joined  Jie  armed  neutrality.     Five  months  later,  Joseph  II 
acceded  by  treaty  with  the  empress  of  Russia,  from  whom  he 
gained  advantages  for  the  commerce  of  Belgium.     The  acces- 
sion  of  Portugal  took  place  in  July  1782 ;  that  of  Naples  in 
^ebruary  of  the  folloT^^ng  year;  that  of  the  Ottoman  Porte  in 
September  1782  by  its  treaty  with  Spain,  confirmed  in  June 
1783  by  its  treaty  with  Russia. 

^  After  the  British  had  suspended  every  commercial  treaty 
with  the  Netheriands,  Stormont  wrote  to  Yorke  :  "  The  best 
way  to  bring  the  Dutch  around  to  their  senses  is  to  wound 
them  in  their  moat  feeling  part,  their  carrying  trade.  The  suc- 
cess of  our  cruisers  has  hithei-to  fallen  much  short  of  expecta- 
tion." So  on  the  thirtieth  of  May  1780,  in  a  time  of  uninter- 
rupted peace,  Yorke  was  instnicted  to  collect  the  best  Intel- 


«l: 


!  I  \ 


\\\ 


i9 


300    AMKItlOA  IN  AIJJANOn  WITH  FIIANCK.    kimv.;  en.  xxm. 

ligc'iu'o  on  tlio  voya^os  of  tlic  Diitcli  increliaiifs,  that  Britirih 
cruiserrt  nw^ht  know  when'  to  ^'o  for  tin;  richest  in-hrn. 

The  c'onilition  of  tho  NctluTlundM  wuh  truly  diiliciilt  to  bo 
borne  :  tlii'ir  honor  was  trilled  with  ;  their  eoniineree  i)i]lage(l  • 
tliey  were  wei)k  and  without  proun'so  of  helj)  from  any  side  ; 
their  Htadholder  did  not  support  tiiem.    They  anxio.-Hly  awaited 
tiie  arrival  of  each  l^iiglisli  mail  to  learn  by  wliatnew  -nejusurea 
the  liritish  cabinet  would  abuse  their  power,  and  how  many 
more  Dutch  ships  had  been  st'ized.     The  republic  had  no  part 
to^  choose  but  submission  to  (Jreat  Britain  or  an  association 
with  llussia.     The  draft  of  tlie  invention,  which  the  empress 
had  dinM-ted  to  be  olfered  to  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  the  ^^eth- 
erlands,  arrived  in  dune.    The^n-aiul  pc-nsionai-y  and  the  coun- 
try wished  at  once  to  accede  to  the  confedei-acy  of  the  North. 
But  tho  stadholder,  who  in  May,  acting  in  the  intei-estu  of 
England,  refused  to  take  a  step  till  the  conduct  of  all  the  other 
neutral   powers   sliould   be   thoroughly  understood,  in  Juno 
would  not  listen  to  any  treaty  with  llussia  uidess  it  should 
include  a  guarantee  of  the  possessions  of  the  republic  in  both 
Indies. 

Th.o  connnissioners  for  tho  Netherlands  found  in  Panin  a 
statesman  who  regarded  the  independence  of  America  as  a 
result  very  adva:itageous  for  all  nations,  and  especially  fur 
liussla,  and  who  cid  not  doubt  that  England  would  be  forced 
to  recognise  it.     In  the  course  of  Septend)er  ho  di'afted  a  con- 
vention which  ho  held  to  be  tlic  ■m]y  possible  one  between 
Russia  and  the  republic.    The  draft  did  not  include  the  wi.-lied- 
for  guarantei^  of  tho  Dutch  possessions  in  America,  at  tho 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  India;  but,  if  the  republic  should 
bo  attacked  on  account  of  the  convention,  the  other  powers 
were  to  take  her  ])art.     A  separate  article  declared  tho  object 
of  tho  armed  neutrality  to  bo  the  restoration  of  peace.    At'tlie 
same  time  couriei-s  were  despatched  to  tho  courts  of  Stock- 
holm and  Copenhagen ;  so  that,  against  the  return  of  a  favor- 
able answer  from  tho  Hague,  all  things  might  be  prepared  for 
recoivmg  the  Dutch  republic  into  the  league  of  neutral  powers. 
Every  step  of  this  negotiation  was  watched  by  England. 
Yet  the  ministiy,  who  were  all  the  time  seeking  an  alHance 
with  Russia,  disliked  tho  appearance  of  going  to  war  with  the 


V. ;  en.  XXIII. 
Iiat  Britirih 

tit! II It  to  bo 
■c!  pilliigod; 
^  any  Bide ; 
wly  awaited 
^v  'iioiisurcs 
liow  many 
111(1  no  |)art 
association 
lie  enipresa 

tlie  Noth- 
l  the  eouH- 
tlic  North, 
titorestu  of 
I  tlic  otiior 
,  in  Juno 

it  fcihould 
ic  iu  both 

n  Panin  a 
orioa  as  a 
3cially  fur 
bo  forced 
ted  a  con- 
i  between 
10  wislied- 
3a,  at  tlio 
lie  should 
)r  powers 
the  object 
1.    At  "the 
of  Stock- 
'i  a  favor- 
pared  for 
il  powei's. 
Enidand. 
1  alliance 
with  the 


1780.         WAIi  OF  BRITAIN  ON  THE   NKTriRHLANDS.        noi 

republic  Holely  on  ncoount  of  her  intention  of  joining  the  armed 
neutrality.  In  October,  ITenry  Laurens,  whom  the  United 
StatoH  liad  accredited  to  the  Netherlandrf  for  the  purwse  of 
raising  a  loan,  wa.s  taken  on  his  passage  to  Kuropo,  and 'among 
hiH  ])apers  was  found  tho  unauthorized  i)i'oj(3et  for  a  treaty, 
eonco.-tod,  as  wo  luivo  scon,  between  Neufvillo  and  Williatn 
Leo.  To  Lord  Stormont  tho  "transaction  api)eared  to  bo  tho 
act  cf  individualH ; »  and  Hillsborough  owned  ''  that  tho  states- 
general  had  had  no  knowledge  of  the  treaty,  which  had  never 
been  fiigued  excei.t  by  private  persons."  J3ut  tho  resolution 
was  instantly  taken  to  use  tho  Laurens  papers  so  as  to  "give 
the  proj>erest  direction  to  tho  war."  'J'o  produce  upon  tho 
public  mind  a  strange  and  startling  sensation,  Laurens,  after 
iiii  examination  at  tho  admiralty  before  tho  three  secretaries  of 
state,  was  escorted  through  tho  streets  of  London  by  a  largo 
guard,  and  confined  as  a  state's  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  whero 
ho  was  debarred  from  all  intercourse  and  from  tho  use  of  pen 
and  i)ai)er. 

When  tho  courier  from  Petersburg  arrived  at  the  ITapnio 
with  the  treaty  which  Panin  had  drafted.  Stormont  saw  th'ero 
was  no  time  to  bo  lost.  On  the  last  day  of  Ot-tobor,.  Yorke 
announced  that  the  states-general,  at  their  meeting  in  the  first 
week  of  November,  would  disavow  the  transaction  between 
Amsterdam  and  America,  but  would  decide  to  join  the  northern 
league. 

On  tho  third  of  November  this  despatch  was 
the  king.     On  that  same  day  the  states  of  IJollan* 
deliberation,  condemned  the  conduct  of  Amsterda 
a(!ts  which  Great  Ei-itain  resented,  and  resolved  to  gi 
British  goveniment  every  reasonable  satisfaction,  so  as  to  icuv. 
not  the  slightest  ground  for  just  comi)laint.     Even  Yorkc, 
who  saw  everything  with  the  eyes  of  an  Englishman,  tliought 
their  conduct   rather  fair.     Yet   Stormont  would   brook  no 
delay;  and  the  British  cabinet,  well  awai-o  of  the  peaceful  in- 
tentions of  the  states  of  Holland  and  the  states-general,  with 
the  approval  of  the  king  came  to  a  determination  to  make  war 
upon  the  re])ublic,  unless  it  should  recede  from  its  purpose  of 
jonnng  the  northern  confederacy.    Li  the  very  hours  in  which 
this  decision  was  taken,  Yorke  was  writing  that  a  war  with 


fii  f--f 


302    AMKIJICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    k»-.  iv. ;  cii.  xxiii. 

tho  republic  would  bo  a  war  with  a  jnroveramcnt  without  artU- 
lery,  "  in  want  of  sturea  of  all  kindH,  without  fleet  or  anny,  or 
any  ono  po88'!8Hion  in  a  state  of  defence."  The  raenu.rial  to 
tho  states-general  was  drafted  by  Lord  Storniont  himself,  and 
was  designed  to  conceal  the  real  motives  of  Great  Britain 
under  a  cloud  of  obkxiny  relating  to  Amsterdam,  and  by  de- 
mands impossible  to  be  complied  with.  Tho  memorial  was 
not  to  bo  presented  if  tho  ambassador  had  certain  information 
that  the  majority  of  the  provinces  would  refuse  to  join  tho 
maritime  league  of  tho  North.  "We  do  not  wish,"  wrote 
Storraont,  "  to  give  a  deep  wound  to  our  old  and  natural  allies. 
Our  object  is  to  cure  their  madness  by  sturming  them  into 
their  senses." 

On  the  sixth  Yorko  represented  to  tho  ntadholder  the  op- 
portunity of  the  republic  fc"  repentance  and  amendment.     The 
prince,  shnigging  his  shoulders,  answered:  "I   foresee  con- 
sequences which  may  be  fatal  to  my  house  and  tho  republic." 
Yorko  replied  tkit  the  stadholder  might  do  a  secondary  and 
passive  kind  of  service  by  starting  difficulties  and  delaying  the 
fresh  instructions  to  the  ministers  at  Petersburg.     The  stad- 
holder answered  :  "  England  cannot  impute  a  wish  for  war  to 
those  who  are  for  concluding  a  neutral  alliance  with  Rusfia, 
nor  blame  a  vote  of  convoy  from  whicli  masts  and  ship-timber 
are  excluded."     Yorko  urged  tliat  tlie  alliance  with  the  North 
was  pushed  by  men  of  warlike  views.     Tho  stadholder  an- 
swered :  "  The  regents  in  general  have  not  that  view."     Yorko 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  negotiation  with  America.     The 
stadholder  observed :  "  I  have  reason  to  believe  Holland  will, 
aa  it  ought  to  do,  disavow  and  d"  approve  that  transaction." 
"  And  give  satisfaction  too  ?  "  asked  Yorko.     The  prince  an- 
swered :  "I  hope  they  will  communicate  their  disavowal  to 
England."     But  he  did  not  deny  that  the  plurality  of  the  prov- 
inces was  in  favor  of  the  connection  with  Russia  on  the  terms 
wliich  that  empire  had  propor,ed. 

Just  after  this  interview  Yorke  received  from  Stormont 
an  inquiry  as  to  whore  blows  could  be  struck  at  the  republic 
with  tho  most  profit,  and  on  f:  seventh  of  November  Yorke 
replied  :  "  TliIs  country  is  by  no  means  prepared  for  war.  It 
is  the  fashion  still  to  suppose  a  war  against  England  impossi- 


V. ;  cii.  xxiu. 


im     WAn  OF  iwiTArsf  o^f  the  netiieki  ands.      aeg 

Uo.    Tho  owcutivo  p,.rt  of  tl,o  Kov-r„,„=„t  has  boon  avc«o 
w";  '  "."'«•„  ^^»  «"  ""■•  I>'"«1.  ecltloments  in  ,!,„  Ent  and 

:iv.,  „'^,  rr'''"'™:,:.:''  ''•  !•?'-""•  •-  '■'^■«"'''^-' 

btormont  on  tiu  twelfth  •  fiti.i +Jw    ,  i    .    '"-'^^'^^'^  i>y 

tu^  iwtiTtn,  and  tho  passage  re  at  nff  to  St  Fn- 

fccnud,  Lord  btorni..,,t„  memorial.    "Tliu  king  insists"  «o 

V.mJ«ckel  ,nd  Ins  accon.j,li=„„,  aa  disturbers  of    bo  nuhlie 
F  CO  and  v,o,a.«  of  tho  right,  of  nations.     His  n    ic  ty 

in:Sr:!«r^;:^r;;i;ri3td::^/Tr 
iri^si;;:;:;^-"-------"^^"" 

Throe   days  after  the  dohVory  of  tJie  m(.mnv;..l    v    i 

for  tho  Eng,sb  to  demand  tho  pnnislnno.it  of  Tan  cSd 
when  they    homsolves  did  not  even  bring  ^anren    to  '  a ' 
Foo,o  m  tho  to^vns  nnder  English  intlnen^    "id    "Van 

u  '7''!/'"  'f  ""•»"■"'"  ™te  Stonnont  to  Yorke  on  the 

«  \n  thrr  ',7  "^'^  '<"•  *''^  •'-'  '■''^™-™ 
rupecnii^,  all  tlie  vulnerable  parts  of  tho  roTvil.lm      ^^  ^^   . 

On    lie  twenty-thu-d  tlio  states  of  Holland  actinLr  on  n  n! 
m"n.cation  froni  the  stadliolder,  onf^J^^i^Jt^fT 
approved  whatever  had  been  done  h.ll  ™^'^"^  ^""^  ^'^■ 
rc-onts  of  tho  inJ    ^    a  f     "^  *^'''  ^burgomasters  and 

with  conoi^^^^  tZ  :f,/""*^^'^r  "'^^"^^"^^^  "^'^-^^''^*-- 
a-d  d^Kz-ed  ho.-r  w-  f  f '^-^'^"^^^^^  ^^^^fi^ed  tho  disavowal, 
En.h nd      Fv  f\      ''?'''"'  '  ^^°°^^  understanding  with 

^1  vSr^  P^^*  ^^^"g^^  t«  tl^e  court  of  LondoS  con- 


:»  'f 


lAiLiKMA^ 


I 


•!         '  J    l" 


364    AMERICA  IN  ALLL\NCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.iv.;  cn.xxiii. 


current  proofs  that  the  cities,  the  people,  evciy  branch  of  the 
government,  all  the  ministers,  desired  to  continue  at  peace. 
The  stadholder,  the  great  j^artisan  of  England,  thought  that 
the  Dutch  government  had  done  enough  to  remove  from  itself 
every  suspicion. 

Yet,  on  the  first  of  December,  Stormont  renewed  the  de- 
mand for  tiie  immediate  punishment  of  the  Ain-stcrdam  offend- 
ers ;  and  on  the  iiftli  he  asked  •)f  "i'orke  some  ideas  for  a  mani- 
festo, for  he  was  preparing  "  to  send  secret  orders  to  seize  the 
Dutch  settlements  in  the  "West  Indies."  Then,  on  the  six- 
teenth, before  he  even  Imcw  that  his  second  memorial  liad  been 
presented,  having  been  informed  that  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
eleventh  the  states-general  had  resolved  to  make  the  declara- 
tion required  before  admission  to  the  armed  neutrality,  he  sent 
orders  to  Yorke  "  as  soon  as  might  be  to  quit  Holland  with- 
out taking  leave." 

While  Yorke  was  still  negotiating  at  the  Ilagiie,  British 
cruisers  pounced  upon  the  unsuspecting  merchant-men  of  their 
ally  of  a  hundred  and  six  years,  and  captured  two  hundred  ships 
of  the  republic,  carrying  cargoes  worth  fifteen  millions  of  guild- 
ers. Four  days  at  least  before  he  left  the  Hague  a  swift  cut- 
ter was  sent  to  Rodney  at  Barbados  with  orders,  founded  upon 
the  ambassador's  letter  of  the  seventh  of  Xovcmber,  to  seize 
St.  Eustatius. 

Suddenly,  on  the  third  of  Febniary  1781,  the  British  West 
Ii^dia  fleet  and  army,  after  a  feint  on  the  coasts  of  Martinique, 
apj)cjrred  off  the  island  and  demanded  :/f  De  Graat,  the  gov- 
ernor, its  surrender  within  an  hour.  "  The  surprise  and  aston- 
ishment of  the  inhabitants  was  scarcely  to  be  conceived,"  Un- 
able to  offer  resistance  and  ignorant  of  a  rupture  between  Great 
Biitain  and  the  republic,  the  governor  gave  up  Ids  post  and  its 
dependencies,  invoking  clemency  for  the  town.  Tlio  wealth  of 
the  island,  which  was  a  free  port  for  all  nations,  astonished  even 
those  who  had  expected  most,  "the  whole  of  it  being  one  con- 
tinued store  of  French,  American,  Dutch,"  and  also  English 
"  property."  In  the  words  of  Rodney :  "  AH  the  magazines, 
the  storehouses,  are  filled,  and  even  the  beach  covered,  with 
tobacco  and  sugar."  The  value  of  the  merchandise,  at  a  mod- 
erate estimate,  considerably  exceeded  three  millions  of  pounds 


r. ;  en,  XXIII. 


IWl. 
eterlin. 


306 


WAR  OF  IIRITAIS  OS  THE  MTHEELAXD.S, 

one  Hundred  audflfty  morehant  vessels,  a  Date!,  fraate  and 
five  sma  ler  vessels  of  war,  all  eomplete  and  ready  for  sll„ 
Thirty  neWy  froiglited  sUps,  which  had  loft    he  is    J  S 
Hnrty-six  hours  before,  were  overtaken  by  a  detach  K,t  t 

Eodne/s  fleet,  and  captured  with  the  sbi^  of  S;™;:Vtich 
was  their  convoy     The  Dutch  flag  was  kept  flyingl'tteii 
and  decoyed  no  less  than  seventeen  vessds  into^thc  po^  S 
Its  capture.     Three  large  skips  from  Amsterdam,  kdcrwith  aU 

plier.  At  St.  Eiistatuis,  in  the  order  of  sale,  English  stores  were 
for  form  s  sake,  excepted ;  but  all  propert;  was  seizedlnd  le 
conhscation  was  gener,al,  without  discriiiiinltion  between  friend 

In  tt  ,  A  ™™''='™'<=»  from  British  merchants,  written 

b)  the  k,„g.  „,,,,f„,.g^^^^^  ,_^  g^  Christopher,  Bod  ev 
scorned  to  read,  and  answered  :  "  The  island  of  St.  Eusta  iZ 
IS  Dutch  ;  everything  in  it  is  Dutch  ;  everything  i   under  tb. 

Lesides  St.  Eustatius,  all  the  settlements  of  the  republic  in 
Sou.h  America  were  taken  during  the  season.  Of  the  Dutch 
possessions  in  Africa  and  Asia,  the  undefended  Cape  of  G„  d 
iro,»,  as  the  half-w.ay  house  on  the  voyaije  to  India  •  the  fell! 
garrisoned  Negap.atam  ;  and  the  unique  harbor  oTrn„„take 
0,1  Ceylon-were  hold  to  be  most  desirable  objects  fTaS 

Mre  imp.ai,ed,  it  was  by  debts  contracted  during  her  alliance 
«  ft  England  and  in  rendering  service  to  that  power  Tbe 
aclmimstration  of  Lord  North  lost  it,  remaining  influence  „„ 
k.  continent  of  Europe  by  this  eniel  and  unji^t  war  With 
no  nation  had  it  any  connection  on  the  score  oi  priiic  „Ie  to 
noU^o  was  it  drawn  by  regard  for  the  higher  int  10^    'Z 


'Ail 


:r 


3G6    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE,     ep.  it.  ;  on.  xxiv. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


i 


THE  WAK  IN   THE   SOUTH.      CLINTON   ANT)   LINCOLN. 

1778-1780. 

To  trace  events  intellif2;il)ly  in  their  connection,  the  war  of 
Great  Britain  on  the  Netherlands  has  been  carried  forward  to 
the  rnin  of  their  commerce  in  the  West  Indies.  The  plan  for 
the  sontliern  campaign  of  1778  was  prepared  by  Germain  with 
great  minuteness  of  detail.  Cieorgia  and  South  Carolina  were 
to  be  reduci'd  by  detachments  from  the  army  of  TSew  York 
and  be  held  by  the  employment  of  their  own  militia ;  the  up- 
land settlements  were  to  be  separated  from  the  planters  of  the 
low  country ;  the  one  to  be  reduced  by  the  teiTor  of  savage 
warfare,  the  other  by  the  fear  of  their  slaves ;  the  city  of 
Charleston  was  in  due  time  to  be  taken,  and,  on  the  appearance 
of  a  small  corps  at  Cape  Fear,  "  large  numbers  of  the  inhabi- 
tants," it  was  thought,  "  would  doubtless  ilock  to  the  standai-d 
of  the  king,"  whose  goveriimont  would  be  restored  in  North 
Carolina.  '  But,  for  want  of  troops,  the  summer  at  the  South 
passed  away  in  idleness.  When  in  autumn  two  expeditions 
of  regulars  and  vindictive  refugees  were  sent  by  Brigadier- 
General  Provost  from  east  Florida  into  Georgia,  the  one  was 
stojiped  at  Sunbury,  the  other  at  the  Ogeechee.  The  latter  on 
its  return  burned  the  church,  almost  every  dwelling-house  in 
Midway,  and  all  rice  and  other  cereals  within  tlieir  reach ;  and 
they  brought  oil  negroes,  horses,  cattle,  and  plate.  Screven,  an 
Amcriea,n"  officer,  beloved  for  his  \'irtues,  was  killed  after  he 
became  a  prisoner. 

Eobert  Howe,  the  American  commander  in  the  southern 
district,  returned  from  an  expedition  against  St.  Augustine 
after  the  loss  of  one  (quarter  of  his  men. 


c 
I 
t 
ii 

S( 


:  cii.  XXIV. 


>LN. 


ihe  war  of 
orward  to 
G  plan  for 
main  with 
jlina  were 
Sew  York 
1 ;  tlie  11  p- 
;ers  of  the 
of  savage 
le  city  of 
ippcarance 
;he  inhabi- 
e  standai'd 
in  North 
the  South 
xpcditions 
Brigadier- 
le  one  wa^^ 
e  latter  on 
K-honse  in 
•each;  and 
)creven,  an 
d  after  he 

e  southern 
Auoriistiue 


1778-1779.  WAR  IN  THE  SOUTH.    CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN.  367 

In  December,  three  thousand  men,  despatched  from  New 
York  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Campbell,  approached  Savan- 
nah.    Eelyiug  on  the  difficulties  of  the  ground,  Howe  offered 
resistance  to  a  disciplined  corps,  ably  commanded,  and  more 
than  three  times  as  numerous  as  his  own ;  but,  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  December,  a  British  party,  guided  by  a  negro  through 
a  swamp,  made  a  simultaneous  attack  on  the  Americans  in 
front  and  rear,  and  drove  them  into  a  precipitate  retreat. 
AVith  a  loss  of  but  twenty-four  in  killed  and  wounded,  the 
British  gained  the  capital  of  Georgia  and  more  than  four 
hundred  prisoners.     Campbell  promised  protection  to  the  in- 
habitants, but  only  on  condition  that  "  they  would  support 
the  royal  government  with  their  anns."     The  captive  soldiers, 
refusing  to  enlist  in  the  British  service,  were  crowded  on  board 
l)rison-ships,  to  be  swept  away  by  infection.     Many  civilians 
submitted;  determined  republicans  found  an  asylum  in  the 
western  parts  of  the  state. 

axt  the  request  of  the  delegates  from  South  Carolina,  Rob- 
ert Howe  was  superseded  in  the  southern  command  by  Major- 
General  Benjamin  Lincoln.  In  private  life  this  officer  was 
most  estimable  ;  as  a  soldier  he  was  brave,  but  slow  in  i)erccp- 
ti..n  and  in  will.  Toward  the  end  of  1770  he  had  repaired  to 
Washington's  camp  as  a  major-general  of  militia ;  in  the  fol- 
lowing Febniary  he  was  transferred  to  the  continental  service, 
and  passed  the  winter  at  Morristown.  In  the  spring  of  1777 
he  was  surprised  by  the  British,  and  narrowly  escaped.  In  the 
summer  he  was  sent  to  the  North,  but  never  took  part  in  any 
battle.  Wounded  by  a  British  party  whom  he  mistook  for 
Americans,  he  left  the  camp,  having  been  in  active  service 
less  than  a  year.  He  had  not  fully  recovered  when,  on  the 
fourth  of  December  1778,  he  entered  upon  the  command  in 
Cliarleston. 

Eariy  in  ./anuaiy  1770,  Prevost  marched  to  Savannah,  re- 
ducing Sunbury  on  the  way ;  and  Campbell  took  possession  of 
Augusta.  The  province  of  Georgia  appearing  to  be  restored 
to  the  crown,  plunder  became  the  chief  thought  of  the  Brit- 
ish army.  Lincoln  took  post  near  Perrysburi^,  with  at  first 
scarcely  more  thai  eleven  hundred  men.  TIio  British  de- 
tached two  hundred  men  to  Beaufort.     Moultrie,  sent  almost 


•ti> 


'.  i' 


368    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  oh.  xxiv. 


';f  (! 


I  a ,  i 


t 


h 


k  A 


alone  to  counteract  the  movement,  rallied  under  his  stand- 
ard about  an  ecjual  number  of  militia,  and  nine  continentals. 
Their  enemy  had  the  advantage  of  position;  but,  imder  a 
leader  whom  they  trusted,  on  tlie  third  of  Febniary  they 
drove  the  invaders  with  great  loss  to  their  ships. 

The  continental  regiments  of  North  Carolina  were  with 
"Washington  ;  its  legislature  promptly  sent,  under  Ashe  and 
Rutherford,  two  thousand  men,  though  without  arms,  to  serve 
for  five  months.  The  scanty  stores  of  South  Carolina  were 
exhausted  in  arming  them.  In  the  last  days  of  January  1779 
they  joined  the  camp  of  Lincoln.  The  assembly  of  South 
Carolina,  superseding  Rawlins  Lowndes  by  an  almost  unani- 
mous vote,  recalled  John  Rutledge  to  be  their  governor,  or- 
dered a  regiment  of  light  dragoons  to  be  raised,  offered  a 
bounty  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  every  one  who  would  enlist 
for  sixteen  months,  and  gave  power  to  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil to  draft  the  militia  of  the  state  and  '■'■  do  everything  neces- 
sary for  the  public  good." 

The  British,  having  carried  their  arm"^  into  the  upper  coun- 
try of  Georgia,  sent  emissaries  to  encourage  a  rising  in  South 
Carolina.  A  party  of  men,  whose  chief  object  was  rapine,  put 
themselves  in  motion  to  join  the  British,  gathering  booty  on 
the  way.  Tliey  were  pursued  across  the  Sav  nmah  by  Colonel 
Andrew  Pickens,  with  about  three  hundred  of  the  citizens  of 
Ninety-Six ;  and,  on  the  fourteenth  of  February,  were  over- 
taken, surprised,  and  routed.  About  two  hundred  escaped  to 
the  British  lines.  Their  commander  and  forty  others  fell  in 
battle,  and  many  prisoners  were  taken.  The  republican  gov- 
ernment, which  since  1776  had  maintained  its  jurisdiction 
without  dispute  in  every  part  of  the  commonwealth,  arraigned 
some  of  them  in  the  civil  court ;  and,  by  a  jury  of  their  fellow- 
citizens,  seventy  of  them  were  convicted  of  treason  and  rebel- 
lion against  the  state  of  South  Carolina.  Of  these,  live  were 
executed. 

The  army  of  Lincoln  was  greatly  inferior  to  the  British  in 
number,  and  far  more  so  in  quality ;  yet  he  detached  Ashe, 
with  fifteen  hundred  of  the  North  Carolina  militia,  on  separate 
service.  This  inexperienced  general  crossed  the  Savannah  at 
Augusta,  whicli  the  British  had  abandoned,  descended  the  river 


OH.  XXIV. 


1779.      WAR  m  THE  SOUTH.    CLINTOX  AND  LTNCOLX.       359 

witli  the  view  to  confine  the  enemy  within  narrower  limits, 
and,  followmg  his  orders,  encamped  his  party  at  Brier  creek 
on  the    Savannah,   beyond  supporting   distance.      The   post 
seemed  to  him  strong,  as  it  had  but  one  approach.     The  British 
annised  Lmcohi  by  a  feint,  while  Lieutenant-Colonel  Prevost 
turned  the  position  of  Ashe,  and  on  the  third  day  of  March 
fell  upon  his  party.      The  few  continentals,  about  sixty  in 
number,  alone  made  a  brave  defence.     By  wading  through 
swamps  and  swimming  the  Savannah,  four  hundred  and  fifty 
of  the  mihtia  rejoined  the  American  camp;  the  rest  perished 
or  were  captured,  or  returned  to  their  homes.     So  quieklv  wai 
one  fourth  of  the  troops  of  Lincoln  lost.     After  this  success 
General  Prevost  proclaimed  a  sort  of  civil  government  in 
Georgia. 

Reinforced  from  the  South  Carolina  mihtia,  of  whom  Rut. 
ledge  had  assembled  great  numbers  at  Orangeburg,  Lincok 
undertook  to  lead  his  troops  against  Savannah  by  way  of  Au- 
gusta, leaving  only  a  thousand  militia  under  ]\roultrie  at  Per- 
lysburg.     Prevost  had  the  choice  between  awaiting  an  attack 
or  mvadmg  the  richest  part  of  Carclina.    His  decision  was  for 
the  side  which  promised  booty.     On  the  twenty-eighth  of 
April,  supported  by  Indians,  he  crossed  the  river  with  three 
thousand  men  and  drove  Moultrie  before  him.     It  was  repre- 
sented to  him  that  Charleston  was  defenceless.     After  two 
or  three  days  of  doulrt,  the  hope  of  seizing  the  city  lured 
nm  on ;  and  upon  the  eleventh  of  May  he  appeared  before 
the  town.     He  came  two  days  too  late.     While  he  hesitated, 
the  men  of  Charleston  had  protected  the  neck  by  sudden  but 
well-planned  works ;  on  the  ninth  and  tenth,  Rutledge  arrived 
with  miitia,  and  Moultrie  with  all  of  his  party  that  remained 
true  to  him,  as  well  as  a  detachment  of  three  hundred  men 
from  the  arniy  of  Lincoln.     While  the  British  crossed  the 
Asliley  river,  Pulaski  and  a  corps  were  ferried  over  the  Cooper 
into  Charleston.  ^ 

In  the  camp  of  Washington  young  Laurens  became  impar 
tient  to  fly  to  his  native  state  and  levy  and  command  a  regiment 
ot  blacks.  Alexander  Hamilton  recommended  the  project  to 
tlJC  president  of  congress  in  these  words:  " The  negroes  will 
make  very  excellent  soldicre.    This  project  will  have  to  combat 


«  11 


!"* 


,t! 


It 


'•  111 


:^1fH» 


1  ; 

illJi 

'in 


'  ^i 


i 


370     AMLRIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  it.  ;  en.  xxn, 

prejudice  and  self-interest.  Contempt  for  the  blacks  makes  us 
fancy  many  things  that  are  founded  neither  in  reason  nor  expe- 
rience. Their  natural  faculties  are  as  good  as  ours.  Give  them 
their  freedom  with  their  nmskets :  this  will  secure  their  fidelity, 
animate  their  courage,  and  have  a  good  influence  upon  those 
who  remain,  by  opening  the  door  for  their  emancipation.  Hu- 
manity and  true  policy  ccpially  interest  me  in  favor  of  this 
unfortunate  class  of  jnen."  Two  days  later  the  elder  Laurens 
wrote  to  Washington :  "  Had  we  arms  for  three  thousand  such 
black  men  as  1  could  select  in  Carolhia,  I  should  have  no  doubt 
of  driving  the  British  out  of  C4eorgia  and  subduing  east  Flori- 
da before  the  end  of  July."  To  this  Washing-ton  answered : 
"  Should  we  begin  to  form  battahons  of  them,  I  have  not  the 
smallest  doubt"  the  British  would  "follow  us  in  it  and  justify 
the  measure  upon  our  own  ground.  The  contest  then  must  be, 
who  can  arm  fa.stest.     And  where  are  our  arms  ? " 

Congress  hstened  to  Huger,  the  agent  from  South  Carolina, 
as  he  explained  that  his  state  was  weak,  because  many  of  its 
citizens  must  remain  at  home  to  prevent  revolts  among  the 
negroes,  or  their  desertion  to  the  enemy ;  and  it  recommended 
as  a  remedy  that  the  two  southernmost  of  the  thirteen  states 
should  arm  three  thousand  of  the  most  vigorous  and  enterpris- 
ing of  the  negroes  under  command  of  white  officers. 

A  few  days  before  the  British  came  near  Charleston  young 
Laurens  arrived,  bringing  this  advice  of  congress.  It  was 
heard  in  aiiger  and  rejected.  The  state  felt  itself  cast  off  and 
alone.  Georgia  had  fallen;  the  country  between  Savannah 
and  Charleston  was  overrun ;  the  British  confiscated  all  ne- 
groes whom  they  coidd  seize ;  their  emissaries  were  urging  the 
rest  to  risa  against  their  owners  or  to  run  away.  Many  be- 
gan to  regret  the  straggle  for  independence.  Moved  by  their 
dread  of  exposing  Charleston  to  be  taken  by  storm,  and  sure 
at  least  of  gaining  time  by  protracted  parleys,  the  executive 
government  sent  a  flag  to  ask  of  the  invadei*s  their  terms  for 
a  capitulation.  In  answer,  the  British  general  offered  peace 
to  the  inhabitants  who  would  accept  protection ;  to  all  others, 
the  condition  of  prisoners  of  war.  The  council,  at  its  next 
meeting,  debated  giving  up  the  town  ;  Moultrie,  Laurens, 
and  Pulaski,  who  were  called  in,  decli'ved  that  they  had  mcc 


I  •IP I, 
*4| 


i  I 


. ;  on.  xxn, 

makes  us 
nor  expe- 
rive  them 
ir  fidelity, 
pon  those 
ion.  Iln- 
ir  of  this 
r  Laurens 
sand  such 
;  no  doubt 
^ast  Flori- 
inswered : 
e  not  the 
nd  juf^tify 
a  must  be, 

I  Carolina, 
any  of  its 
mong  the 
mraended 
een  states 
enterpris- 

ton  young 
,  It  was 
st  off  and 
Savannah 
ed  all  ne- 
irging  the 
Many  be- 
i  by  their 
I,  and  sure 
executive 
terms  for 
■red  peace 
all  others, 
,t  its  next 
Laurens, 
had  men 


1779.      WAR  IN  TUE  SOUTH.    CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN.       371 

enough  to  beat  the  invaders ;  and  yet,  against  the  voice  of 
Gadsden,  of  Ferguson,  of  John  Edwards,  and  of  others,  the 
majority,  irritated  by  the  advice  of  congress  to  emancipate 
and  arm  slaves,  "proposed  a  neutrality  during  the  war,  the 
(question  whether  the  state  shall  belong  to  Great  Britain  or 
remain  one  of  the  United  States  to  be  determined  by  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  powers."  Laurens,  being 
called  upon  to  bear  this  message,  scornfully  refused,  and  an- 
other w^as  selected.  The  British  general  declined  to  treat  with 
the  civil  government  of  South  Carolina,  but  made  answer  to 
Aloultrie  that  the  garrison  must  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war. 
"Then  we  will  light  it  out,"  said  Moultrie  to  the  governor 
and  council,  and  left  their  tent.  Gadsden  and  Ferguson  fol- 
lowed him,  to  say :  "  Act  according  to  your  own  judgment, 
and  wo  will  support  you ; "  and  Moultrie  waved  the  flag  from 
the  gate  as  a  signal  tliat  the  conference  was  at  an  end. 

The  enemy  had  intercepted  a  letter  from  Lincoln  in  which 
he  charged  Moultrie  "  not  to  give  up  the  city,  nor  suffer  the 
people  to  despair,"  for  he  was  hastening  to  their  relief.  At 
daylight  the  next  morning  the  British  were  gone.  They  had 
escaped  an  encounter  by  retreating  to  the  islands.  The  Ameri- 
cans, for  want  of  boats,  could  not  prevent  their  embarkation, 
nor  their  establishing  a  post  at  Beaufort.  The  Carolina  militia 
returned  home ;  Lincoln,  who  was  left  with  but  about  eight 
hundred  men,  passed  the  great  heats  of  summer  at  Sheldon. 

The  invasion  of  South  Carolina  by  the  army  of  General 
Prevost  proved  nothing  more  than  a  raid  through  the  richest 
plantations  of  the  state.  The  British  pillaged  almost  every 
house  in  a  wddc  extent  of  country,  sparing  in  some  measure 
those  who  professed  loyalty  to  the  king.  Ol)jocts  of  value  not 
transportable  were  destroyed.  Porcelain,  mirrors,  windows, 
yveve  dashed  in  pieces ;  gardens,  carefully  planted  with  exotics, 
laid  waste.  Domestic  animals  were  wantonly  shot.  About 
three  thousand  fugitive  slaves  passed  with  the  army  into 
Georgia. 

The  southernmost  states  looked  for  relief  to  the  French  fleet 
in  America,  but  ill  fortune  cUmg  to  it.  In  September  1778 
tlie  Marquis  de  Bouille,  the  gallant  governor-general  of  the 
French  Windward  islands,  in  a  single  day  wrested  from  G  reat 


1  '     ) 


m. 


ii^v. 


372 


AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     kp.  iv.  ;  en.  xxiv. 


i»  f 


U' 


!      J 


«'U1 


Britain  the  strongly  fortified  island  of  Dominica;  but  d'Es- 
taing,  with  r  greatly  increased  fleet  and  a  land-force  of  nine 
thousand  men,  came  in  siglit  of  the  island  of  St.  Lucia  just 
as  its  last  French  flag  had  been  struck  to  a  corps  of  fifteen 
hundred  British  troops.  A  landing  for  its  recovery  was  re- 
pulsed, with  a  loss  to  d'Estaing  of  nearly  fifteen  hundred  men. 

Early  in  January  1770,  reinforcements  under  Admiral 
BjTon  transferred  maritime  superiority  to  the  British;  and 
d'Estaing  for  six  months  sheltered  his  fleet  within  the  bay 
of  Port  Royal.  At  the  end  of  June,  Byron  having  left  St. 
Lucia  to  convoy  a  company  of  British  merchant  ships  through 
the  passages,  d'Estaing  detached  a  force  against  St.  Vincent, 
wliich,  with  tlie  aid  of  the  oppressed  and  enslaved  Caribs,  its 
native  inhabitants,  was  easily  taken.  This  is  the  only  instance 
in  the  war  where  insurgent  slaves  acted  efliciently.  On  the 
fourth  of  July,  Grenada  surrendered  at  discretion  to  the  French 
admiral.  Two  days  later  the  fleet  of  Byron  arrived  within 
sight  of  the  French,  and,  though  reduced  in  number,  sought 
a  general  action,  which  the  French  knew  how  to  avoid.  In 
the  running  fight  tliat  ensued,  the  British  sliips  suffered  so 
much  in  their  masts  and  rigging  that  the  French  recovered 
the  superiority. 

To  a  direct  co-operation  with  the  United  States,  d'Estaing 
was  drawn  by  the  wish  of  congress,  the  entreaties  of  South 
Carolina,  and  his  own  never-failing  good-will.  On  the  first 
day  of  September  he  approached  Georgia  so  suddenly  that  he 
took  by  surprise  four  British  ships-of-war.  To  the  government 
of  South  Carolina  he  announced  his  readiness  to  assist  in  re- 
ducing Savannah ;  but  he  made  it  a  condition  that  his  fleet, 
wh^'^h  consisted  of  thirty-three  sail,  should  not  be  detained  long 
off  so  dangerous  a  coast.  In  ten  days  the  French  troops,  though 
unassisted,  effected  their  landing.  Meantime,  the  British  com- 
mander worked  day  and  night  with  relays  of  hundreds  of 
negroes  to  strengthen  his  defences. 

On  the  sixteenth  d'Estaing  summoned  General  Prevost  to 
surrender.  While  Prevost  gained  time  by  a  triple  interchange 
of  notes,  Maitland,  regardless  of  malaria,  pressed  through  the 
swamps  of  the  low  country,  and,  flushed  with  a  mortal  fever 
caught  on  the  mai-ch,  brought  to  his  aid  eight  hundred  men 


1779.      WAR  IN  THE  SOUm    CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN.      373 

from  Beaufort.     When  they  all  bad  arrived,  the  British  ffave 
their  answer  of  defiance. 

It  was  the  twenty-third  of  Septem1)er  when  the  Americana 
under  Lmcoln  joined  the  French  in  the  siege  of  the  city.  On 
the  eighth  of  October  the  reduction  of  Savannah  seemed  still 
so  far  distant  that  the  naval  officers  insisted  on  the  rashness  of 
leaving  the  fleet  longer  exposed  to  autumnal  gales  or  to  an 
attack,  with  so  much  of  its  strength  on  laud.  An  assault  was 
therefore  resolved  on  for  the  next  day,  an  hour  before  sun- 
rise,  by  two  feigned  and  two  real  attacks. 

The  only  chance  of  success  lay  in  the  precise  execution  of 
the  plan.    The  column  under  Count  Dillon,  which  was  to  have 
attacked  the  rear  of  the  British  linos,  mis.^<>d  its  way  in  a 
swamp,  of  which  it  should  only  have  skirted  the  ed<re  waa 
helplessly  exposed  to  the  British  batteries,  and  could  not  even 
he  formed.     It  was  broad  day  when  the  party  with  d'Estain^ 
accompanied  by  a  part  of  the  Carolinians,  advanced  fearlessly 
but  only  to  become  huddled  together  near  the  parapet  under 
a  destnictive  fire  from  musketry  and  cannon.     Tlie  American 
standard  was  planted  on  the  ramparts  bv  Hume  and  by  Bush 
heutenants  of  the  second  South  Carolina  regiment,  but  both 
of  them  fell ;  at  their  side   Sergeant  Jasper  was  mortally 
wounded,  but  he  used  the  last  moments  of  his  life  to  brin<> 
off  the  colors  which  he  supported.     A  French  standard  was 
planted  with  no  better  result. 

After  an  obstinate  struggle  of  fifty-five  minutes  to  carry 
the  redoubt,  the  assailants  retreated  before  a  charge  of  grena- 
diers and  marines,  led  gallantly  by  I^Iaitland.  Tlie  injury  sus- 
tained by  the  British  was  trifling;  the  loss  of  the  Americana 


was  about  two  hundred;  of  the  French,  thrice  a=,  .uauy. 
B  Estamg  was  tv\dce  wounded ;  Pulasld  once,  and  mortally. 
"  The  cries  of  the  dying,"  so  wrote?  the  severely  wounded  Baron 
de  Stedingk  to  his  king,  Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden,  "  Herced 
me  to  the  heart.  I  desirea  death,  and  might  have  found  it, 
but  for  the  necessity  of  thinking  how  to  save  four  hundred 
men  whose  retreat  was  stopped  by  a  broken  bridge."  The 
patriots  of  Georgia  who  had  joined  in  the  siege  fl'ed  to  the 
backwoods  or  across  the  river;  the  French  sailed  for  France. 
At  Paris,  Stedingk,  as  he  moved  about  on  crutches,  became 


If 


i!  .    ' 


It  ' 


[ 


hi 


in 


lit 


i  i 


*/ 


374    AMERICA  I?I  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.  ;  ch.  xxiv. 

the  delight  of  the  highest  Bocial  circle;  and  at  one   of  the 
theatres  mms  personated  on  the  stage,  leading  a  Htorniing  party. 

Lincohi  repaired  to  Charleston,  and  was  followed  by  what 
romainiid  of  his  army ;  the  nulitia  of  South  CaroUna  returned 
home ;  its  continental  regiments  were  melting  away ;  and  its 
paper  money  became  so  nearly  worthless  that  a  bounty  of 
twenty -five  hundred  dollars  for  twenty-one  months'  service  had 
no  attraction.  The  dwellers  near  the  sea  between  Charleston 
and  Savannali  knew  not  wheie  to  find  protection.  Through- 
out the  state  the  people  were  disheartened,  and  foreboded  its 
desolation. 

Now  that  the  British  held  Georgia  and  Beaufort  in  South 
Carolina,  they  might  have  gained  an  enduring  mastery  by 
emancipating  and  arming  the  blacks.  But  the  idea  that  slav- 
ery was  a  sin  against  humanity  was  unknown  to  parliament 
and  to  the  ministry,  and  would  have  been  hooted  at  by  the 
army.  Tiie  thought  of  universal  emauci])ation  had  not  yet 
concpiered  tlic  convictions  of  the  iniling  class  in  England.  The 
English  of  that  day  rioted  in  the  lucrative  slave-trade,  and  the 
zeal  of  the  government  in  upholding  it  had  been  one  of  the 
causes  that  provoked  the  American  war.  The  advice  to  organ- 
ize an  army  of  liberated  negroes,  though  persisted  in  by  the 
royal  governor  of  Yirginia,  was  crushed  by  the  eagerness  of 
the  British  officers  and  soldiers  in  America  for  plunder.  In 
this  they  were  encouraged  by  the  cordial  approbation  of  the 
king  and  his  ministers.  The  instructions  from  Germain  au- 
thorized the  coniiscation  and  sale,  not  only  of  negroes  employed 
in  the  American  army,  but  of  those  who  voluntarily  followed 
the  British  troops  and  took  sanctuary  under  British  jurisdic- 
tion. They  continued  to  be  shij)ped  to  the  slave-markets  of 
the  "West  Indies. 

Before  the  end  of  three  months  after  the  capture  of  Sa- 
vannah, all  the  property,  red  and  personal,  of  the  rebels  in 
Georgia  was  disposed  of.  For  fm'ther  gains,  Indians  were 
encouraged  to  bring  in  slaves  wherever  they  could  find  them. 
AH  families  in  South  Carolina  were  subjected  to  the  visits  of 
successive  sets  of  banditti,  who  received  commissions  as  vol- 
unteers witli  no  i>iiy  or  emolument  but  that  derived  from 
rapine,  and  ^^•ho^  roaming  about  at  pleasm*e,  robbed  the  planta- 


:vm 


J779-1780.  WAR  IN  THE  SOUTH.    CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN.  375 

tlons,  alike  of  patnots  and  loyalists.  Negroes  were  the  spoil 
moat  coveted ;  on  the  avcrao;e,  tliey  wereVahied  at  two  hun- 
dred  and  fifty  silver  dollars  each.  When  Sir  James  Wright 
returned  to  the  government  of  (Georgia  ho  found  several  thou- 
sands of  them  awaiting  distribution  among  claimants.  Every 
hope  of  the  slave  for  enfranchisement  was  crushed. 

The  property  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
South  Carolina  was  confiscated.  Families  were  divided  ;  patri- 
ots outlawed  and  savagely  assassinated;  houses  burned,  and 
woi^en  and  children  driven  shelterless  into  the  forests ;  dis- 
tricts so  desolated  that  they  seemed  the  abode  only  of  orphans 
and  widows.  Left  mainly  to  her  own  resources,  it  was  through 
the  depths  of  wretchedness  that  her  sons  were  to  bring  her 
back  to  her  place  in  the  republic,  after  suffering  more,  and 
daring  more,  and  achieving  more  than  the  men  of  any  other 
state. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  had  so  completely  failed  before 
Cliarleston  in  177G,  resolved  in  person  to  carry  out  the  order 
for  its  reduction.  In  August  an  English  fleet,  commanded  by 
Arbuthnot,  an  old  and  ineflicient  admiral,  brought  him  rein- 
forcements and  stores;  in  September  fifteen  hundred  men 
ariived  from  Ireland  ;  in  October  the  troops  which  had  so  long 
been  stationed  in  Ehode  Island  joined  his  army.  He  still 
waited  till  he  became  assured  that  the  superior  fleet  of  d'Es- 
taing  had  sailed  for  Europe. 

Leaving  the  command  in  New  York  to  the  veteran  Kn^-p- 
hausen,  Clinton,  with  eight  thousand  five  hundred  officers  and 
men,  on  the  day  after  Christmas  1.779,  set  sail  for  the  con- 
quest of  South  Carolina.     The  admiral  led  the  van  into  the 
adverse  current  of  the  gulf-stream ;  glacial  storms  scattered  the 
fleet;    an  ordnance  vessel  foundered;    American  privateers 
captured  some  of  the  transports ;  a  bark,  carrying   Hessian 
troops,  lost  its  masts,  was  driven  by  gales  across  the  ocean,  and 
broke  in  pieces  just  after  its  famished  passengers  landed  near 
St.  Ives  in  England.     Most  of  the  horses  perished.     Few  of 
the  transports  arrived  at  Tybee  in  Georgia,  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous, before  the  end  of  January.     Clinton  immediately 
ordered  from  New  York  Lord  Rawdon's  brigade  of  about 
three  thousand  more. 


M. 


i  i  9  >-' 


4i .  a  I 


376    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  on.  xxiv. 


m 


,  f 


111     k  %KU     JSi 


i< 


Charleston  was  an  opulent  to^vn  of  fifteen  tLoiisand  in- 
habitants, Tijc  and  blavo.  Among  them  were  traders  and 
others,  who  were  the  representatives  of  British  interests.  The 
city,  which  was  not  deserted  by  its  private  families,  had  no 
great  store  of  ])rovi8iou8.  Tlie  paper  money  of  the  province 
was  Worth  but  live  j)er  cent  of  its  nominal  value.  Tlie  town, 
like  the  country  around  it,  waa  ilat  and  low.  On  three  sides 
it  lay  upon  the  water ;  and,  for  its  complete  investment,  an 
enemy  who  commanded  the  sea  needed  only  to  occupy  the 
neck  between  the  Coo])er  and  the  Ashley  rivers.  It  had 
neither  citadel,  nor  fort,  nor  ramparts,  nor  materials  for  build- 
ing anything  more  than  lield-',;  jrks  of  loose  sand,  kept  to- 
gether by  boards  and  logs.  The  ground  to  bo  defended  within 
the  limits  of  the  city  was  very  extensive ;  and  Lincoln  com- 
manded less  than  two  thousand  effective  men.  On  the  third 
of  February  1780  the  general  assembly  of  Sourh  Carolina 
intrusted  the  executive  of  the  state  with  power  "to  do  all 
things  necessary  to  secure  its  liberty,  safety,  and  happiness, 
except  taking  the  life  of  a  citizen  without  legal  trial."  But 
the  defeat  before  Savannah  had  disheartened  the  people.  The 
southern  i)nrt  of  the  state  needed  all  ita  men  for  its  own  pro- 
tection ;  the  middle  part  was  disalleeted ;  the  frontiers  were 
menaced  by  savage  tribes.  Yet,  without  taking  counsel  of  his 
officers,  Lincoln,  reluctant  to  abandon  public  property  which 
he  had  not  means  to  transport,  remained  in  the  city. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  the  British  forces  from  the  eastern 
side  of  St.  John's  Island  gained  a  view  of  the  town,  its  har- 
bor, the  sea,  and  carefully  cultivated  plantatious,  Avhich,  after 
their  fatigues,  seemed  to  them  a  paradise.  The  best  defence 
of  the  harbor  was  the  bar  at  its  outlet ;  and  abeady,  on  the 
twenty-seventh,  Iho  officers  of  the  continental  squadron,  which 
carried  a  hundred  pr  1  fiftv  gaus,  reported  their  inability  to 
guard  it.  •  Then,"  in  .  he  opinion  of  Washington,  "  the  attempt 
to  defend  the  town  ought  to  have  been  relinquished."  But 
Lincoln,  intent  only  on  strengthening  its  fortificatit  ,  was  the 
first  to  go  to  work  on  them  in  the  morning,  and  •,.  ould  not 
return  till  late  in  the  evening.  "With  the  guns  of  the  so'iadi'on 
and  its  seamen,  he  manued  batteries  on  shore ;  and  shi^s  were 
smik  to  close  the  entrance  to  the  Ashley  river. 


1780.       WxiR  IN  THE  SOUTU.    CLINTOX  AND  LINCOLN.       377 

CHnton,  tnisting  nothing  to  hazard,  moved  slowly  along  a 
coa£t  in;  rjcctod  by  crcclca  and  checkered  with  islands.  Lin- 
coki  used  the  time  to  draw  into  Charleston  all  the  force  in  tho 
southern  department  of  which  ho  could  dispose.  On  the  sev- 
enth of  Aj)ril  the  remains  of  the  Virginia  line,  seven  hundred 
veterans,  entered  Charleston,  having  in  twenty-eight  days 
marched  five  hundred  miles  to  certain  captivity. 

On  the  ninth,  Arbuchnot,  taking  ad\'ant'Ygo  of  a  gentle 
east  wind,  brought  his  ships  into  the  harbor,  without  sufTcrinc^ 
from  Fort  Moultrie  or  returning  its  fire.  Tlie  next  day,  the 
first  parallel  being  completed,  Clinton  and  Arbutlinot  sum- 
moned the  town  to  surrender.  Lincoln  answered:  "From 
duty  and  inclination,  I  shall  support  the  town  to  thv  la.st  ex- 
tremity." 

On  the  thirteenth  the  American  officers  insist.  ,1  that  Gov- 
ernor Rutledge  should  withdraw  from    Charleston,  leaving 
Gadsden,  the   liouteuant-govenior,  with  five  of  the  council. 
On  the  same  morning  Lincohi  for  the  first  time  called  a  coun- 
cil of  war  and  suggested  an  evacuation.     «  We  should  not  lose 
an  hour,"  said  Mackintosh,  "in  attempting  to  get  the  conti- 
nental troops  over  the  Cooper  river ;  for  on  their  safety  de- 
pends the  salvation  of  the  state."      But  Lincoln  only  invited 
them  to  consider  the  measure  maturely  till  he  should  send  for 
them  again.     Before  he  called  a  second  council,  the  American 
cavalry,  which  kept  up  some  connection  between  the  town  and 
the  country,  had  been  surprised  and  dispersed ;  Cornwall  is  had 
an-ived  ^vith  ne?rly  three  thousand  men  from  New  York ;  and 
the  British  had  occupied  the  peninsula  from  the  Coojier  to  the 
Wando;  so  that  an  evacuation  was  no  longer  possible.     On 
the  sixth  of  May,  Fort  Moultrie  surrendered  without  firino-  a 
gun.  '' 

On  the  twelfth,  when  the  British  were  ready  to  assault  the 
town  by  land  and  water,  Lincoln  signed  a  capitulation.  The 
continental  troops  and  sailors  became  prisoners  of  war  until 
exchanged  ;  the  militia  from  the  country  were  to  return  home 
as  prisoners  of  war  on  parole,  and  to  be  secure  in  their  prop- 
erty so  long  as  their  parole  should  be  observed.  All  free  male 
adults  in  Charieston,  including  the  aged,  the  infirm,  and  even 
the  loyalists,  were  counted  and  paroled  as  prisoners,  of  whom 


'•  *  i 


,  * 


t( 


378    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xxiv. 


m 


'  i 


■'Li   Mi'. 


Clinton,  in  this  vainglorious  way,  raised  the  number  to  five 
thousand. 

The  value  of  the  spoil,  which  was  distributed  by  English 
and  Hessian  commissaries  of  captures,  amounted  to  about  three 
hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling ;  the  dividend  of  a  major- 
general  exceeded  four  thousand  guineas.  There  was  no  re- 
straint on  private  rapine ;  the  silver  plate  of  the  planters  was 
carried  oft' ;  all  negroes  that  had  belonged  to  rebels  were 
seized,  even  though  they  had  themselves  sought  au  asylum 
within  the  British  lines ;  and  at  one  embarkation  two  thousand 
of  them  were  shipped  to  the  West  Indies  for  sale.  British  and 
German  officers  thought  more  of  amassing  fortunes  than  of  re- 
uniting the  empire.  The  patriots  were  not  allowed  to  appoint 
attorneys  to  manage  or  to  sell  their  estates.  A  sentence  of 
confiscation  Lang  over  the  land,  and  British  protec+ion  wm 
granted  only  on  the  unconditional  promise  of  loyalty. 

For  six  weeks  all  opposition  ceased  in   South  CaroHna. 
One  expedition  was  sent  by  Clinton  up  the  Savannah  to  en- 
courage the  loyal  and  reduce  the  disaffected  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Augusta ;  another  proceeded  for  the  like  purpose  to 
the  district  of  Ninety-Six,  where  AVIlliamson  surrendered  his 
post  and  accepted  British  protection  ;  Pickens  was  reduced  to 
inactivity ;  alone  of  the  leaders  of  the  patriot  militia,  Colonel 
James  Williams  escaped  pursuit  and  preserved  his  freedom  of 
action.     A  thii'd  and  larger  party  mider  (Jornwallis   moved 
across  the  Santee  toward  Camden.     The  rear  of  the  old  Vir- 
ginia line,  commanded  by  Colonel  Buford,  arriving  too  late  to 
reinforce  the  garrison  of  Charleston,  had  retreated  toward  the 
north-east  of  the  state.    They  were  pursued,  and  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  May  were  overtaken  by  Tarleton  vrivh  seven  hvndred 
cavalry  and  mounted  infant!-^'.     Buford  hhuself,  a  few  who 
were  mounted,  and  about  a  imndred  of  the  infantry,  saved 
themselves  by  flight.     The  rest,  making  no  resistance,  vainly 
sued  for  cpiarter.     None  was  granted.     A  hundred  and  thir- 
teen were  killed  on  the  spot ;  a  hundred  and  lif ty  wore  too 
badly  hacked  to  be  moved ;  fifty-three  only  could  be  brought 
into  Camden  as  jjrisoners.    The  tidings  of  this  massacre,  borne 
through  the  southern  forests,  excited  horror  and  auger ;  but 
Tarleton  received  from  Gornwallis  the  higliest  encomiums. 


'  ','1 


1780.       WAR  m  THE  SOUTH.    CLINTON  AND  LINCOLN.       379 

The  capture  of  Charleston  suspended  aU  resistance  to  the 
British  army.  The  men  of  Beaufort,  of  Ninety-Six,  and  of 
Camden  capitulated  under  the  promise  of  security,  behevinff 
that  they  were  to  bo  treated  as  neutrals  or  as  prisoners  on  p;^ 
role._  Ihe  attempt  was  now  made  to  force  the  men  of  Caro- 
lina into  active  service  in  the  British  army,  and  so  to  become 
the  mstruments  of  their  own  subjection. 

On  the_  twenty-second  of  May  confiscation  of  property  and 
other  punishments  were  denounced  against  all  who  should 
thereafter  oppose  the  king  in  arms,  or  hinder  any  one  from 
joining  his  forces.  On  the  first  of  June  a  proclamation  by 
the  commissioners,  Clinton  and  Arbuthnot,  offered  pardon  to 
the  penitent,  on  their  immediate  return  to  allegiance:  to  the 
lojal,  the  promise  of  their  former  pohtical  immmiities,  includ- 
liig  freedom  from  taxation  except  by  their  own  legislature. 

On  the  third  of  June,  Clinton,  by  a  proclamation  which  he 
alone  signed  cut  up  British  authority  in  Cai-olina  by  the  roots 
He  i-equired  all  the   inhabitants  of  the  province,  even  those 
outside  of  Charleston  -  who  were  now  prisoners  on  parole,"  to 
take  an  active  part  in  securing  the  royal  government.    "  Should 
they  neglect  to  retur.  to  their  allegiance,"  so  ran  the  procla- 
mation,    thy  will  be  treated  as  rebels  to  the  government  of 
the  kmg.       He  never  reflected  that  many  who  accepted  pro- 
tection from  fear  or  convenience  did  so  in  the  expectation  of 
living  m  a  state  of  neutrality,  and  that  they  might  say  "If 
we  must  fight,  let  us  fight  on  the  side  of  our  friends,  of  our 
countiynien  of  America."     On  the  eve  of  his  departure  for 
.New  York  he  reported  toGennain:  "The  inhabitants  from 
every  quarter  declare  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  and  offer 
their  services  in  arms.     There  ai-e  few  men  in  South  Carolina 
\\^ho  ai-e  not  either  our  prisoners  or  in  arms  with  us." 


al 

m 

" 

1 

Ui 


:■■     h 


^MH  it 


VOL.   V. — 20 


I 


380     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE,     ef.  iv. :  cii.  xxv. 


CHAPTER  XXY. 


ml 


•mE   WAK   IN    TinO   SonTlI.      CORNWALLIS    AND   OATES. 


IM  ■" 


!«l! 


'!ii 


(     si 


fi'  nvi 


1 


li!< 


M 


1780. 

RivALKY  between  Clinton  and  ('onnvallis  already  glowed 
under  the  aslies.  Clinton  had  written  home  more  tnith  than 
was  willingly  listened  to ;  and,  though  he  clung  with  tenacity 
to  his  connnission,  intimated  a  wish  to  he  recalled.  Germain 
took  him  so  far  at  his  word  as  to  give  him  leave  to  transfer  to 
Cornwallis  the  chief  connnand  in  North  America. 

In  1780  all  opposition  in  South  Carolina  was  for  the  mo- 
ment at  an  end,  when  C'ornwallis  entered  on  his  separate  com- 
mand, lie  proposed  to  keep  possession  of  all  that  had  heen 
gained,  and  to  advance  as  a  concpieror  to  the  Chesapeake. 
Clinton  had  left  with  him  no  more  than  five  thousand  elfcctive 
troops  in  South  Carolina,  and  less  than  two  thousand  in  Geor- 
gia; to  these  were  to  be  added  the  regiments  v.'hich  he  was 
determined  to  organize  out  of  the  southern  people. 

As  fast  as  the  districts  submitted,  the  new  connnauc'^r 
enrolled  all  the  inhabitants,  and  a])pointed  field-ofHcers  with 
civil  as  well  as  military  power.  The  men  of  property  above 
forty  years  of  age  were  made  responsible  I'or  order,  but  were 
not  to  be  called  out  except  in  case  of  insurrection  or  of  actual 
invasion ;  the  younger  men  who  com^xjsed  the  second  class 
were  held  lial)lo  to  serve  six  months  in  each  year.  Hundreds 
of  connuissions  were  issued  for  the  militia  regiments,  IMajor 
Patrick  Ferguson,  known  from  his  services  in  New  Jersey  aiul 
greatly  valued,  was  deputed  to  visit  each  district  in  South  Caro- 
lina, to  procure  on  the  spot  lists  of  the  militia,  and  to  see  that 
the  orders  of  Cornwallis  were  carried  lulo  cxci-uuiou.     Any 


1780.  WAR  IN  THE  SOHTn,    COnNWALl/    AND  GATES.     381 

Ciroliaian  thereafter  taken  in  arms  aRainst  the  kinj;  ,„io.,,t  ,,o 
sentenced  to  de,ath  for  desertion  and  tre„»on.    Ppo   ^ '( 
those  who  offered  to  raise  provincial  corps  were  ^0^^ 
and  men  of  the  province,  void  of  honor  and  compS  1' 
ccved  comn„ss,on8,  gathered  about  them  proHi-Jo  rutHl^ 

to  put  patliots  to  death  as   outlaws.      Cornwallis  never  r^ 

fnced  t^  doT"'  "  r  """  "•'■""'  "  <--°"rt-martiI  se!^ 
Tu  eln's  I  '  ""  \'^Y'  "'  "'™^-  A  'i-artermaster  of 
Lnletons  leg.on  entered  the  house  of  Samuel  Wyly  near 
Ga,„den  and,  because  he  had  served  as  a  volunteer  ilLZ 
fence  of  Charleston,  cut  him  in  pieces.  The  Presbv  eriam 
supported  the  cause  of  independence ;  and  indeed  itAmerT 
c.™  revo  ution  was  but  the  application  of  the  principles  o"  hi 
■.t„..,n,at,on  o  civil  government.  One  Hue*,  a  Lptafn  o 
a-.t.sh  nuht.a,  fired   the  library  and  dwclling-housJ  of  the 

c:sr"a:dT'""f """"'''"''  "■  '"^ "«- 1-'  -*  L 1 

t   u"    Son  of      r  ,  °™'^  ^'""^  '■""  ''■'"«''  "-  S™'«* 
tr.iu.laton  of    he  p.salm8  was  bound.     Under  the  inunediato 

eye  of  Cornwalhs  the  prison™  who  had  capitulated  in  CI  artel 

ton  were  the  subjects  of  perpetual  persecution,  nnle^    t ley 

would  exchange  their  paroles  for  oaths  of  allegiance.    Mee  Z 

ir'tsttx '""'" ""  ^"""  *'■* ""'"'  ^■™'"  ^- 

Wd  Rawdon  who  had  tho  very  important  command  on 
heSantee,  raged  equally  against  deserters  from  his  Irish 
S"«ont  and  agau.st  the  inhabitants.  To  Rugely  at  that 
""«■  »  .myor  of  nn-|itia  in  the  liritish  service  and  an  a^f.^L  for 
n,l,er  pr„,notio„,  he  on  the  ti.t  of  July  addressed  "r 
e.t  or  le  s  for  scenrmg  stn^-gling  soldiers,  adding  :  "  I  wili  mve 
.e  mhantants  ten  guineas  for  the  head  of  a,.y  d"  sorter  belSg 

.^."hiliriraiit.'^^ "  ^*"''  -' "-  «•■'"-  »■>  "^  4 

The  chain  of  posts  for  holding  South  Carolina  consisted 
of  Georgetown    Charleston,  Beaufort,  and  Savannah  on  the 

I'e  r*^'T'  '^'"^'^-f"'  ""J  ''''"■"l™  in  the  interior.    Of 
iK^e,  Camdon  was  tlie  key  between  the  North  and  South  •  and 
.V^as„,aller  post  at  Kocky  Mount,  it  kept  up  a  commu,  S^ 


-1  tt  If 

'  1 M^. 

1  i' 


i  I  : 


(ft 


I' 


'     'r  '  1'" 


'     I 


s  I  :li 


'f    ': 


382      AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FPwANCE.    ep.  it.  ;  on.  xxv. 

At  the  end  of  June,  Cornwallis  reported  that  he  had  put  an 
end  to  all  resistance  iu  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  and  in 
September,  after  the  harvest,  would  inarch  into  North  Caro- 
lina to  reduce  that  i)rovince.  On  hearing  of  the  violence  of 
the  British,  Houston,  the  delegate  in  congress  from  Georgia, 
wrote  to  Jay :  "  Our  misfortunes  are,  under  God,  the  source  of 
our  safety.  The  enemy  have  overrun  a  considerable  part 
of  the  state  in  the  hour  of  its  nak(;dnes8  and  debility  ;  but,  as 
their  measures  seem  as  usual  to  be  dictated  by  infatuation, 
when  they  have  wrought  up  the  spirit  of  the  people  to  fury 
and  desperation  they  will  be  expelled  from  the  country." 

Patriots  of  South  Carolina  took  refuge  iu  the  state  on  their 
north.  Among  them  was  Sumter,  who  in  the  command  of  a 
continental  regiment  had  shown  courage  and  ability.  To 
punish  his  flight,  a  Biitish  detachment  turned  his  wife  out  of 
doors  and  burned  his  house  with  everything  which  it  con- 
tained. The  exiles,  banding  themselves  together,  chose  liiui 
for  their  leader.  For  their  use,  the  smiths  of  the  neighbor- 
hood wrought  iron  tools  into  rude  weapons ;  bidlets  were  'la&t 
of  pewter,  collected  from  housekeepers.  With  scarcely  three 
rounds  of  cartridges  to  a  man,  they  could  obtain  no  more  but 
from  their  foes  ;  and  with  the  arras  of  the  dead  and  wounded 
in  one  engagement  they  must  equip  themselves  for  the  next. 

On  the  rumor  of  an  advancing  American  army,  Kawdon 
called  on  all  the  inhabitants  round  Camden  to  join  him 
in  arms.  One  hundred  and  sixty  who  refused  he  crowded 
during  the  heat  of  midsummer  into  one  prison,  though  some 
of  them  were  protected  by  the  cai)itulation  of  Charleston- 
More  than  twenty  were  loaded  with  chains.  On  the  twelfth 
day  of  July,  Captain  Iluck  was  sent  out  with  thirty-five  dra- 
goons, twenty  mounted  infantry,  and  sixty  militia,  on  a  patrol. 
His  troops  were  posted  in  a  lane  at  the  village  of  Cross  Roads, 
near  the  source  of  Fishing  creek  ;  and  women  were  on  their 
knees  to  him,  vainly  begging  mercy ;  when  suddenly  Sumter 
and  his  men,  though  inferior  in  number,  dashed  into  the  lane 
at  both  ends,  killed  the  commander,  and  destroyed  nearly  all 
his  party.  This  was  the  first  advantage  gained  over  the  royal 
forces  since  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

The  order  by  which  ail  the  men  of  Cai'oiina  were  enrolled 


IWO.  WAR  IN  THE  SOITTn.    COENWALLIS  AND  GATES.     883 

in  the  militk  drove  into  the  British  service  prisone™  on 
parole  and  all  who  had  wished  to  remain  neutnl.'^  One  Lk 
who  thus  sntFered  compulsion  in  the  districts  borderiatl^ 
the    .vers  Tpr  and  Enoree,  waited  tiU  his  battalion^wM 
supphcd  w,th  arms  and  ammunition,  and  then  conducted  U 

Thus  strengthened,  Sumter,  on  the  thirtieth  of  Julv  made 
a  spirited  though  unsuccessful  attack  on  Eocky  Mount     H„ 
mg  repaired  h,s  losses,  on  the  si.vth  of  A,  gtfst  he  s^rprM 
he  Br^,sh  post  at  Hanging  Rock.    A  reghnent  of  Xees 
from  North    Carolina  iled  with  preeipi^tion ;  tlei7pSe 
spread  to  the  provincial  .-egiment  of  the  prince  of  wZ 
wh:ch  suffered  severely.    In  the  beginning  of  the  action  not 
one  o      be  Americans  had  more  than  ten  bullets;  bcfo^ 
.ts  end    hey  used  the  arms  and  ammunition  of  th    M^ 
Among  the  partisans  who  were  present    :.  this  fight  wasX 
drew  Jackson,  an  orphan  boy  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  wC 
hatred  of  oppression  and  love  of  country  impelled  t^  d^cd" 
beyond  h,s  years.    Sumter  drew  back  <«,  the  Catawba  settle 

riitr "'  "^^ "  ^™"'  ^"°"-  ^-'-  ^^^^ 

So  far  the  South  had  rested  on  its  own  exertions.    Relying 
on  the  mtemal  strength  of  New  England  and  the  central  sfate! 

or  the,r  protection,  Washington  was  willing  to  incur  biS 
for  the  rehef  of  the  CaroUnas  ;  and,  with  thf  approv"  of  cl 
gross  from  his  army  of  less  than  ten  and  a  half  thousand  men 
of  whom  twenty-eight  hundred  were  to  be  discharged  in  April' 
he  detached  General  Kalb  with  tlie  Maryland  division  of 
nearly  two  thousand  men  and  the  Delaware  regiment.  mIZ 
"ig  orders  for  tlie  southward  were  given  to  the  corps  of  Major 
Lee.  The  movement  of  Kalb  was  slow  for  want  of  the  means 
of  tnnsportation.  At  Petersburg  in  Virginia  be  added  to  Us 
eommand  a  regiment  of  artillery  with  twdve  eamion. 

Of  all  the  states,  Virginia,  of  which  Jefferson  was  then  the 
frZ7  ^T"'  exposed  to  invasion  from  the  sea,  and  was 

.  eons  ant  danger  from  the  savages  on  the  west ;  ^ot  it  was 

"nr^'^"'w  ■,    °™  P""''-    ^"^  '"K'^'"'"'^  ™'  »  *e  ninth 
May.    -nubm  ten  minutes  after  the  house  was  formed, 


!  1  I' 


*  ♦  \ 


'MUl 


•■  u 


\'  ■  i 


ii.  I 


'  I  [i  n 


384     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  it.  ;  on.  xxv. 


1 


vy 


I 


ill 


:  1  Mi 


•1} 


Richard  Henry  Lee  proposed  to  raise  and  send  twenty-five 
hundred  men  to  serve  for  three  months  in  Carolina,  and  to  be 
paid  in  tobacco,  which  had  a  real  value.  Major  Nelson  with 
sixty  horse,  and  Colonel  Armaud  with  his  corps,  were  already 
moving  to  the  soutli.  The  force  assembled  at  Williamsburg 
for  the  protection  of  the  country  on  the  James  river  consisted 
of  no  more  than  three  hundred  men  ;  but  they  too  were  sent 
to  Carolina  before  the  end  of  the  month.  North  CaroUna 
made  a  requisition  on  Virginia  for  arms,  and  received  them. 
With  a  magnanimity  which  knew  nothing  of  fear,  Virginia 
laid  herself  bare  for  the  protection  of  th    Carolinas. 

The  news  that  Charleston  had  capitulated  found  Kalb  still 
in  Virginia.  On  the  twentieth  of  June  he  entered  North 
Carolina,  and  at  Hillsborough  halted  to  repose  his  wayworn 
soldiers.  He  found  no  magazines,  nor  did  the  governor  of  the 
state  much  heed  his  requisitions  or  his  remonstrances.  Cas- 
well, who  was  in  command  of  the  militia,  disregarded  his  or- 
ders from  the  vanity  of  acting  8ei)ai'atcly.  Yet,  under  all  pri- 
vations, the  officers  and  men  of  his  command  vied  with  each 
other  in  maintaining  order  and  harmony.  In  his  camp  at  Buf- 
falo ford,  on  Deep  river,  while  he  was  still  doubting  how  to 
direct  his  march,  he  received  news  of  measures  adopted  by 
congress  for  the  southern  campaign. 

Washington  wished  Greene  to  succeed  Lincoln ;  congress, 
not  asking  his  advice  but  not  ignorant  of  his  opinion,  on  tlie 
thirteenth  of  June  unanimously  apjiointed  Gates  to  the  inde- 
pendent command  of  the  southern  army.  He  received  his 
orders  from  congress  and  was  to  make  his  reports  directly  to 
that  body.  He  might  address  himself  directly  to  Virginia  and 
the  states  beyond  it  for  supplies ;  of  himself  alone  appohit  all 
staff-officers ;  and  take  such  measures  as  he  should  think  most 
proper  for  tlu  defence  of  the  Sout'i.  From  his  plantation  in 
Virginia,  Gates  made  his  acknowledgment  to  congress  without 
elation ;  to  Lincoln  he  wrote  in  modest  and  affectionate  language. 
He  enjoined  on  all  remnants  of  continental  troops  in  Virginia 
to  repair  to  the  southern  army  v;ith  all  possible  diligence. 

ITpon  information  received  at  Hillsborough  from  Hugcr 
of  South  Carolina,  Gates  formed  his  plan  to  march  directly 
to  Camden,  assured  of  its  easy  capture.     To  Kalb  ho  wrote : 


.:pi|Vfi 


IV. ;  on.  XXV. 


1780.    WAR  IN  TUE  SOUTH.    CORNWALLIS  AND  GATES.     385 

"Enough  has  been  lost  in  a  vain  defence  of  Charleston;  if 
more  is  sacriticed,  the  southern  states  are  undone ;  and  this 
may  go  nearly  to  undo  the  rest." 

Arriving  in  the  camp  of  Ivalb,  the  first  words  of  Gates 
ordered  the  troops  to  be  prepared  to  march  at  a  moment's 
warnmg.  The  safest  route,  recommended  by  a  memorial  of 
the  principal  officers,  was  by  way  of  Salisbury  and  Charlotte, 
through  a  most  fertile,  salubrious,  and  well-cultivated  country, 
mhabited  by  Presbyterians  who  were  heartily  attached  to  the 
cause  of  independence.  But  Gates,  on  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-seventh  of  July,  put  what  he  called  the  «  grand  army  " 
on  its  march  by  the  shortest  route  to  Camden,  through  a 
barren  country  which  could  offer  no  food  but  lean  cattle,  fruit 
and  unripe  maize.  ' 

On  the  third  of  August  the  army  crossed  the  Pedee  river, 
making  a  junction  on  its  southern  bank  with  Lieutenant^ 
Colonel  Porterfield  of  Virginia,  an  excellent  officer,  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  relief  of  Charleston,  and  had  found  means 
to  subsist  his  small  connnand  on  the  frontier  of  South  Carolina. 
The  force  of  which  Gates  could  dispose  revived  the  hopes 
of  the  South  Carolinians,  who  were  writhing  under  the  inso- 
lence of  an  army  in  which  every  soldier  was  licensed  to  plun- 
der,  and  every  officer  outlawed  peaceful  citizens  at  will.     The 
British  commander  on  the  Podce  called  in  his  detachments, 
abandoned  his  post  on  the  Cheraw  IliU,  and  repaired  to  Lord 
Ra^vdon  at  Camden.     An  escort  of  Carohnians,  who  had  been 
forced  to  take  up  anns  on  the  British  side,  rose  against  their 
officers  and  made  prisoners  of  a  hundred  and  six  British  inva- 
lids who  were  descending  the   Pedee  river.     A  boat  from 
Georgetown,  laden  with  stores  for  the  British  at  Cheraw,  was 
seized  by  Americans.     A  revolt  in  the  public  mind  against 
British  authority  invited  Gates  onward.     Misled  bv  false  in- 
formation, from  his  camp  on  the  Pedee  he  announced  on  the 
fourth  by  a  proclamation,  that  their  late  triuin])hant  and  in- 
sulting foes  had  retreated  with  precipitation  and  dismay  on  the 
approach  of  his  numerous,  well-appointed,  and  formidable  army. 
On  the  seventh,  at  the  Cross  Roads,  the  troops  with  Gates 
made  a  junction  with  the  North  Carolina  militia  under  Cafi- 
well,  and  proceeded  towai-d  the  enemy  at  Lynch's  creek. 


f 


\  i 


Ml 


;i  K 


386     AMERICA  IN"  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 

In  the  following  night  that  post  was  abandoned,  and  Lord 
Tlawdon  occupied  another  on  the  southern  bank  of  Little 
Lynch's  creek,  unassailable  from  the  deep,  muddy  channel  of 
the  river,  and  within  a  day's  march  of  Cainden.  Here  he  was 
joined  by  Tarleton  with  a  small  detachment  of  cavalry,  who 
on  their  way  had  mercilessly  ravaged  the  country  on  the  Black 
river  as  a  punishment  to  Its  patriot  inhabitants,  and  as  a  terror 
to  the  dwellers  on  the  Watoree  and  Santee.  By  a  forced 
march  up  the  stream,  Gates  could  have  turned  Lord  Rawdon's 
flank  and  made  an  easy  conquest  of  Camden.  Missing  his 
opportunity,  on  the  eleventh,  after  a  useless  halt  of  two  days, 
he  deiiled  by  the  right,  and,  marching  to  the  north  of  Cam- 
den, on  the  thirteenth  encamped  at  Clermont,  which  the  Brit- 
ish had  just  abandoned.  In  the  time  thus  allowed,  Rawdon 
strengthened  himself  by  four  companies  from  Ninety-Six,  as 
well  as  by  the  troops  from  Clermont,  and  threw  up  redoubts  at 
Camden. 

On  the  evening  of  the  tenth  Coisiwallis  left  Charloston, 
and  arrived  at  Camden  before  the  dawn  of  the  fourteenth.  At 
ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  fifteenth  he  set  his  troops  in 
motion,  in  the  hope  of  joining  battle  with  the  Americans  at 
the  break  of  day. 

On  the  fourteenth  Gates  had  been  joined  by  seven  hundred 
Virginia  militia  under  the  command  of  Stevens.  On  the  same 
day  Sumtci',  appearing  in  camp  with  four  hundred  men,  asked 
for  as  many  more  to  intercept  a  convoy  with  its  stores  on  the 
road  from  Charleston  to  Camden.  Gates,  who  believed  him- 
self at  the  head  of  seven  thousand  men,  granted  his  request. 
Sumter  left  the  camp,  taking  with  him  eight  hundred  men, 
and  on  the  next  morning  captured  the  wagons  and  their  escort. 

An  exact  field  return  proved  to  Gates  that  he  had  but  three 
thousand  and  fifty-two  rank  and  file  present  and  fit  for  duty. 
"  These  are  enough,"  said  he,  "  for  our  purpose ; "  and  on  the 
fifteenth  he  communicated  to  a  council  of  officers  an  order  to 
begin  their  mar  -h  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  that  day. 
lie  was  listened  to  in  silence.  Many  wondered  at  a  night 
march  of  an  army,  of  wh'.ch  more  than  two  thirds  were  militia 
that  had  never  even  beon  paraded  together ;  but  Gates,  who 
had  the  "  moat  sanguin  j  confidence  of  victory  and  the  disper- 


fli' 


1780.   WAR  IX  TOE  SOUTH.    CORNWALLIS  AND  GATES.     337 

sion  of  the  enemy,"  appointed  no  place  for  rende^vons,  and 
be^n  Ins  march  before  his  baggage  was  sufficiently  in  the 

At  half-past  two  on  tlie  morning  of  the  sixteenth  abnnf 
j«les  from  C-amden,  ..  advane^gnard  of  C^llS 
m  w  th  the  advance-gnard  of  the  American.,  to  wliom  the 
colhszon  was  a  surprise.     Their  cavalry  was  in  front,  but  Ar 

Tte  the  r™"^"'  r.^"  ^^^^'^"^  ^''^  -^^-•■^'  -'^^  insubordi- 
nate,  the  horsemen  m  Ins  command  turned  suddenly  and  fled  • 
and  neither  he  nor  they  did  any  service  that  night  or  the  ne  t 
day.  The  retreat  of  Armand's  legion  produced  confusion  in 
th  hrst  Maryland  brigade,  and  spread  consternation  throuX 
out  the  army,  tdl  the  light  infantry  on  the  right,  under  the 
command  0  Colonel  Porterfield,  threw  back  ?ho'part;  th^ 
mado  the  attack  and  restored  order;  but  at  a  great  price,  for 
Porterheld  received  a  wound  which  proved  fatal 

To  a  council  of  the  American  general  officers,  held  imme- 
.'1  mtely  m  the  rear  of  the  lines,  Gates  communicat^l  the  rep^r^ 
o±  a  prisoner,  that  a  large  regular  force  of  British  troops  under 
Cornwalhs  was  five  or  six  hundred  yards  in  their  iLt,  and 
submitted  the  question  whether  it  would  be  proper  to  re  r^t 
St.ve>     declared  himself  eager  for  battle,  savbg  tha    "  h' 

it;  r^t     T-  "fr  ^''"^^  '^'''^^  ^•^^  ^^^"  Xalb  remained 
silent  Gates  desired  them  to  form  in  line  of  battle 

The  position  of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  most  favorable.     A 

swamp  on  each  side  secured  his  flanks  against  the  superior 

01  e  made.     The  front  line,  to  which  were  attached  two  six- 
I  mmders  and  two  three-pounders,  was  commanded  on  the  rigM 

a  battalion  with  a  six-pounder  was  posted  behind  each  wing  ai 
aje^rve;  the  cavalry  were  in  the  rear,  ready  to  charge  oft" 

Gist^for't  t"-'"r  ''^^'?''  ''^'"^  Mar^dand  brigade  with 
^i  t  tor  Its  brigadier,  an<l  the  men  of  Delaware,  occupied  th 

n,ht  under  Kalb;  the  Forth  Carolina  division 'with  CasweU 

tae  centre;   and   Stevens,  with  the  newly  arrived  Yirginia 

mihtia,  tho  left:  the  best  troops  on  the  side  strongest  b^  n^ 


A      n 


1 


I 


^i. 


'':rii*i 


388     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  it.  ;  on.  xxv. 


<m  ifl 


i:    1 


■?i 


i        I 


l\ 


■f- 


turo,  the  worst  on  tlio  wcalccst.  The  first  IMarylaiul  hrij^jado 
at  tlie  head  of  wliich  Siiuilhvood  kIioiiM  have  appeared,  formed 
a  second  line  about  two  hinuhvd  yards  in  tlie  rear  of  the  first. 
The  ai^tillery  was  divided  between  the  two  brigades. 

(Jates  took  his  place  in  the  rear  of  tlie  second  line.  lie 
gave  no  order  till  Otho  "Williams  proposed  to  him  to  begin 
the  attack  with  the  brigade  of  Stevens,  who  had  been  with 
the  army  only  one  day.  Stevens  gave  the  word  ;  and,  as 
they  prei)ared  to  move  forwai'd,  Cornwallia  ordered  Webster, 
whose  division  contained  his  best  troops,  to  assail  them, 
while  Rawdon  was  to  engage  the  American  right.  As  the 
British  with  Webster  rushed  on,  firing  and  shouting  huzza, 
Stevens  reminded  his  militia  that  they  liad  bayonets;  but  they 
had  received  them  only  the  day  befoi'e,  and  knew  not  how  to 
use  them  ;  so,  dropping  their  muskets,  they  escaped  to  the 
woods  with  such  speed  that  not  more  than  three  of  them  were 
killed  or  wounded. 

Caswell  and  the  militia  of  North  Carolina,  except  the  few 
who  had  Gregory  for  their  brigadier,  followed  the  example ; 
nearly  two  thirds  of  the  army.  Gates  himself  writes  this  of 
them,  "  ran  like  a  torrent,"  and  he,  their  general,  ran  with 
them.  They  took  to  the  woods  and  dispersed  in  every  direc- 
tion, while  Gates  disappeared  from  the  scene,  taking  no  thought 
for  the  continental  troops  M'hom  he  left  at  their  posts  in  the 
field,  and  flying,  or,  as  he  called  it,  retiring,  as  fast  as  possible 
to  Charlotte, 

The  militia  having  been  routed,  Webster  came  round  the 
flank  of  the  first  Maryland  brigade  and  attacked  them  in  front 
and  on  their  side.  Though  Smallwood  was  nowhere  to  be 
found,  they  were  sustained  by  the  reseiwe  till  the  brigade  was 
outflanked  by  greatly  superior  7iund)ers  and  obliged  to  give 
ground.  After  being  twice  rallied,  they  finally  retreated.  The 
division  whicli  Kalb  eonnnanded  continued  long  in  action,  and 
never  did  troops  show  greater  courage  than  these  men  of  Ma- 
ryland and  Delaware.  The  horse  of  Kalb  had  been  killed  un- 
der him,  and  he  had  been  badly  wounded  ;  yet  he  continued  to 
fight  on  foot.  At  last,  in  the  hope  of  victory,  he  led  a  charge, 
drove  the  division  under  Rawdon,  took  fifty  prisonei"S,  and 
would  not  believe  that  he  was  not  about  to  <>;:iiu  the  dav,  when 


1780.   WAR  IN  THE  SOrin.    CORNWALLIS  AND  GATES. 


!*'> 


38!) 

Cornwallis  pouro.l  ii^.  ..nt  l.i.n  a  pnrtv  of  dra-oona  aud  in- 
tantty  Even  then  l.o  did  not  yield  until  disabled  l.y  many 
wounds.  -^ 

The  victory  cost  the  nritish  about  five  hundred  of  their 
best  troops  ;  "  their  great  loss,"  wrote  Marion,  «  is  erpial  to  a 
defeat.  How  many  Americans  perislied  on  the  field  or  sur- 
rendered is  not  accura  ^ly  known.  Tliey  saved  none  of  their 
artdlery  and  little  of  their  baggage.  Except  one  hundred  con- 
tinental soldiers  whom  Gist  conducted  across  swamps  thro.udi 
which  tlie  cavalry  could  not  follow,  every  corps  was  dispei-sc^d. 
The  canes  and  underwood  that  hid  them  from  their  pursuers 
separated  them  from  one  another. 

Kalb  lingered  for  three  days;  but,  before  he  closed  bis 
eyes,  he  bore  an  affectionate  testimony  to  the  exemplary  con- 
duct  of  the  division  which  ho  had  commanded,  and  of  which 
two  fifths  had  fallen  in  battle.  Opulent,  and  happy  in  his  wife 
and  children,  he  gave  to  the  United  States  his  hfe  and  his  ex- 
ample. Congress  decreed  him  a  monument.  The  British  par- 
liament voted  thanks  to  Cornwallis. 

Gates  aud  Caswell,  leaving  the  army  without  orders,  rode 
m  all  haste  to  Clermont  which  they  reached  ahead  of  all  the 
fugitives,  and  then  pressed  on  and  still  on,  until,  late  in  the 
night,  they  escorted  each  other  int.->  Charlotte.  The  next 
morning  Gates  left  Caswell  to  rally  such  troops  as  might  come 
m;  and  himself  sped  to  Hillsborough,  where  the  North  Caro- 
lina legislature  was  soon  to  meet,  riding  altogether  more  than 
two  hundred  miles  in  three  days  and  a  half,  aud  running  away 
from  his  army  so  fast  and  so  far  that  he  knew  nothing  about 
Its  condition.  CasweU,  after  waiting  one  day,  followed  his 
example. 

On  the  nineteenth,  American  ofTicers,  coming  into  Char- 
lotte, placed  their  hopes  of  a  happier  turn  of  events  on  Sumter, 
who  commanded  the  largest  American  force  that  now  remained 
in  the  Carolinas.  His  detachment  had,  on  the  fifteenth,  cap- 
tured more  than  forty  British  wagons  laden  with  stores,  and 
secured  more  than  a  hundred  prisoners.  On  hearinn-  of  the 
misfortunes  of  "the  grand  army,"  Sumter  retreated  slowly  and 
carelessly  up  the  Wateree.  On  the  seventeenth  he  remained 
thi-ough  the  whole  night  at  Kocky  Mount,  though  he  Icnew 


i! 


ii 


ft;    ! 


?•■ 


Ml    / 


'  I 


81 

If" 


1 

[,m 

I 


wi 


390     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  on.  mv. 

that  the  British  wore  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  in 
possession  of  boats  and  the  ford.  On  the  eighteenth  he  ad- 
vanced onlv  eight  miles;  and  on  tlie  north  bank  of  Fishing 
creek,  at  bright  inid-(hiy,  his  troops  stacked  tlieir  arms ;  some 
took  repose;  some  went  to  the  river  to  bathe;  some  strolled  in 
search  of  supplies ;  and  Sumter  himself  fell  fast  asleep  in  the 
shade  of  a  wagon.  In  this  state  a  party  under  Tarleton  cut 
them  off  from  their  arms  and  put  them  to  rout,  taking  two  or 
three  hundred  oi  them  captive,  and  recovering  the  British 
prisoners  and  wagons.  On  the  twentieth  Sumter  rode  into 
Charlotte  alone,  without  hat  or  saddle. 


jti,! 


!   II 


m 


m 


•      'i.ii 


l^ 


1780.       CORNWALLIS  AND  THE  flOUTUERN  PEOPLE.        391 


CHAPTER  XXyi. 

THE    WAR    IN    THE    SOUTH.      COKNWALLT8    AND    THE    PEOPLE    01? 

THE   SOUTH-WEST. 

1780. 

From  the  moment  of  his  victoiy  near  Camden,  Cornwallis 
became  the  principal  figure  in  tlie  British  service  in  America 
—the  pride  and  delight  of  Germain,  the  desired  commander- 
in-chief,  the  one  man  on  whom  rested  the  hopes  of  the  minis- 
try for  the  successful  termination  of  the  war. 

We  are  come  to  the  series  of  events  which  closed  the 
American  contest  and  restored  peace  to  the  worid.  In  Europe, 
tlie  sovereigns  of  Austria  and  of  Russia  were  offering  their 
mediation ;  the  Netheriands  were  struggling  t(j  preserve  their 
neutrality ;  France  was  straining  every  nerve  to  cope  with  her 
rival  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe;  Spain  was  exhaust- 
mg  her  resources  for  the  conquest  of  Gibraltar;  but  the  inci- 
dents which  overthrew  the  ministry  of  North,  and  reconciled 
Great  Britain  to  America,  had  their  sj^rings  in  South  Carolina. 

Cornwallis,  elated  with  success  and  hope,  prepared  for  the 
northward  march,  which  was  to  conduct  him  from  victory  to 
victory,  till  he  should  restore  all  America  south  of  Delaware 
to  Its  allegiance.  He  appeared  to  believe  that  North  Carolina 
would  rise  to  welcome  him ;  and  was  attended  by  Martin,  its 
former  governor,  eager  to  re-enter  on  his  office.  He  requested 
Clinton  to  detach  three  thousand  men  to  establish  a  post  on 
the  Chesapeake  bay;  and  Clinton  knew  too  well  the  wishes  of 
the  British  government  to  venture  to  refuse. 

In  carrying  out  his  plan,  the  first  measure  of  Cornwallis  in 
1 780  was  a  rcigu  of  terror.   Professing  to  regard  South  Carolina 


-fi  I 


li't'i 


1  I 


1  .:* 


r  4 


392  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE. 


EP.  IT. ;  on.  XXVI. 


!|     ! 


•i     '! 


1     I' 

■  t  r 

m 


I  ! 


as  restored  to  the  dominion  of  George  III.,  and  accei)ting  tlie 
suggestions  of  Martin  and  Tarleton  and  their  like,  that  severity 
was  tlie  true  mode  to  liold  the  recovered  province,  he  ad- 
dressed the  most  stringent  orders  to  the  commandants  at  Nine- 
ty-Six and  otlier  posts  to  imprison  all  who  would  not  take  up 
arms  for  the  king,  and  to  seize  or  destroy  their  whole  prop- 
erty. He  most  positively  enjoined  that  every  militia-man 
who  had  borne  arms  with  the  British  and  had  afterward 
joined  the  Americans  should  be  hanged  immediately.  He 
set  up  the  gallows  at  Camden  for  the  indiscriminate  execution 
of  those  among  his  prisoners  who  had  formerly  given  their 
parole. 

The  destniction  of  property  and  life  assumed  still  more 
hideous  forms,  when  the  peremptory  orders  and  example  of 
Cornwallis  were  followed  by  subordinates  in  remote  districts 
away  from  supervision.  Cruel  measures  seek  and  find  cruel 
agents ;  officers  whose  delight  was  in  blood  patrolled  the  coun- 
try, burned  houses,  ravaged  estates,  and  put  to  death  whom 
they  would.  The  wives  and  daughters  of  the  opulent  were 
left  with  no  fit  clothing,  no  shelter  but  hovels  too  mean  to 
attract  the  destroyer.  Of  a  sudden  the  woodman  in  his  cabin 
would  find  his  house  surrounded,  and  he  or  his  guest  might 
be  shot,  because  he  was  not  in  arms  for  the  king.  No  eno-a^-e- 
ment  by  proclamation  or  by  capitulation  was  respected.  There 
was  no  question  of  proofs  and  no  trial.  For  two  years  c(^ld- 
blooded  assassinations,  often  in  the  house  of  the  victim  and  in 
the  presence  of  his  wife  and  little  children,  were  pei-petrated 
by  men  holding  the  king's  commission.  The  enemy  were  de- 
termined to  break  every  man's  spirit,  or  to  take  his  life. 

The  nithless  administration  of  Cornwallis  met  the  hearty 
and  repeated  applause  of  Lord  George  Cirermain,  who  declared 
himself  convinced  that  "  to  punish  reT)cllion  would  have  the 
best  consequences.'""  As  to  the  rebels,  his  ordera  to  Clinton 
and  Cornwallis  wore :  "  No  good  faith  or  justice  is  to  be  ex- 
pected from  them,  and  we  ought  in  all  our  transactions  with 
them  to  act  upon  that  supposition." 

In  violation  of  agreements,  tlie  continenial  soldiers  who 
capitulated  at  Charleston,  nineteen  hundred  in  number,  were 
transferred  from  buildings  in  the  town  to  prison-ships,  where 


!i  i' 


I'} 


1780.        CORXTVALLIS  AND  THE  SOUTHERN  PEORLE.        393 

tliey  were  joined  by  several  hundred  prisoners  from  Camden 
In  tlnrteen  months  one  thu-d  of  the  whole  number  perished 
by  malignant  fevers ;  others  were  impressed  into  the  British 
service  as  mariners ;  several  hundred  young  men  were  taken 
by  violence  on  board  transports  and  forced  to  serve  in  a  IBritie>> 
regiment  in  Jamaica,  leaving  wives  and  young  children  to 
want.  Of  more  than  three  thousand  confined  in  prison-ships 
all  but  about  seven  hundred  were  made  away  witli.  ' 

On  the  capitulation  of  Charieston,  eminent  patriots  re- 
mained prisoners  on  parole.     Foremost  among  these  stood  the 
aged  Christopher  Gadsden,  whose  unsellish  love  of  country 
was  a  constant  encouragement  to  his  countrymen  never  to 
yield.  ^  Their  silent  example  restrained   the  timid  from  ex- 
changing their  paroles  for  the  protection  of  British  subjects. 
To  overcome  this  influence,  eleven  days  after  the  victory  at 
Camden,  he  and  thirty-six  of  Ids  most  resolute  associates,  in 
flagrant  disregard  of  the  conditions  on  which  they  had  sur- 
rendered, were  early  in  the  morning  taken  from  their  houses 
and  beds  and  transported  to  St.  Augustine.     Gadsden  and 
others,  refusing  to  give  a  new  parole,  were  immured  in  the 
castle  of  St.  Mark.    After  some  weeks  a  like  cargo  was  sliipped 
to  the  same  place. 

_   Tlie  system  of  slaveholding  kept  away  from  defensive  ser- 
vice not  only  the  slaves,  but  numerous  whites  needed  to  watch 
them.     Moreover,  some  of  the  men  deriving  their  livelihood 
from  the  labor  of  slaves,  had  not  the  coura-e  to  face  the  idea 
of  poverty  for  themselves,  still  less  for  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren.   Many  fainted  at    the  hard   option    between  submis- 
sion and  ruin,    diaries  Pinckney,  lately  president  of  the  South 
-arohna  senate,  classing  himself  among  those  who  from  the 
Imrry  and  confusion  of  the  times  had  been  misled,  desired  to 
sliow  every  mark  of  allegiance.     Rawlins  Lowndes,  who  but  a 
few  months  before  had  been  president  of  the  state  of  South 
Carolina,  excused  himself  for  having  reluctantly  given  way  to 
necessity,  and  accepted  any  test  to  prove  that,  with  the  imre- 
stramed  dictates  of  his  own  mind,  he  now  attached  himself  to 
the  royal  government.    Henry  Middh-ton,  president  of  the  fii-st 
American  congn^^..,  though  still  "partial  to  a  cause  for  wliich 
<ic  had  been  so  long  engaged,"  promised  to  do  uotliin-^  to  keep 


w 

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394  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv.  ;  on.  xxvi. 


'.    1! 


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up  the  spirit  of  independence,  and  to  demean  liimself  as  a 
faitL^ul  subject. 

But  Soutli  Carolina  was  never  conquered.  From  the  mo- 
ment of  the  fall  of  Charleston,  Colonel  James  "Williams,  of  the 
district  of  Ninety-Six,  did  not  rest  in  gathering  the  armed 
friends  of  the  union.  From  the  region  above  Camden,  Sumter 
and  his  band  hovered  over  all  British  movements.  "  Sumter 
certainly  has  been  our  greatest  plague  in  this  country,"  writes 
Cornwallis. 

In  the  swamps  between  the  Pedee  and  the  Santee,  Marion 
and  his  men  kept  watch.  Of  a  delicate  organization,  sensitive 
to  truth  and  honor  and  right,  hinnane,  averse  to  bloodshed, 
never  wreaking  vengeance  nor  suffering  those  around  him  to 
do  so,  scrupulously  respecting  private  property,  he  had  the 
love  and  confidence  of  all  in  that  part  of  the  country.  Tarle- 
ton's  legion  had  laid  it  waste  to  inspire  terror ;  and  volunteer 
partisai,;;  gathered  round  Marion  to  redeem  their  land. 

A  body  of  three  hundred  royalist  niihtia  and  two  hundred 
regular  troops  had  established  a  post  at  Musgrove's  Mills  on 
the  Enoree  river.  On  the  eighteenth  of  August  they  were 
attacked  by  inferior  numbers  under  AVilliams  of  Xinety-Six, 
and  routed,  with  sixty  killed  and  more  than  that  number 
wounded.     AVilliams  lost  but  eleven. 

At  dawn  of  tlie  twentieth  a  i:)arty,  convoying  a  hundred 
and  fifty  prisoners  of  the  Maryland  line,  were  crossing  the 
great  savanna  near  Nelson's  ferry  over  the  Santee  upon  the 
route  from  Camden  to  Charleston,  when  Marion  and  his  men 
sprang  upon  the  guard,  liberated  the  prisoners,  and  captured 
twcntv-six  of  the  escort. 

"  Colonel  Marion,"  wrote  Coniwallis,  "  so  wrought  on  the 
minds  of  the  people  that  there  was  scarcely  an  inhabitant 
between  the  Pedee  and  the  Santee  that  was  not  in  arms  ao-ainst 
us.  Some  parties  even  crossed  the  Santee  and  carried  terror 
to  the  gates  of  Charleston."  Balfour,  the  commandant  of 
Charleston,  wrote  home :  "  In  vain  we  expected  loyalty  and 
attachment  from  the  inhabitants ;  they  are  the  same  stuff  as  all 
Americans."  The  Britisli  historian  of  the  war,  who  was  then 
in  South  Carolina,  relates  that  "  almost  the  whole  country 
seemed  upon  the  eve  of  a  revolt." 


t^i'l 


1780. 


CORNWALLIS  AND  THE  SOUTnERN  PEOrLE. 


395 

In  tlio  second  week  of  September,  wlien  the  lieats  of  sum- 
mer  had  abated,  the  earher  cereal  grains  had  been  harvested 
and  the  maize  was  nearly  ripe,  ComwalHs  .began  his  projected 
march   _  He  rehed  on  the  loyalists  of  North  Carolina  to  re- 
cruit  his  army.     On  his  left,  Major  Patrick   Ferguson,  the 
ablest  Lritish  partisan,  was  Fent  with  two  hundred  of  tlie  best 
troops  to  tlio  uplands  of  South  Carolina,  whore  he  enlisted 
young  men  of  that  country,  loyalists  who  had  fled  to  tlie  moun- 
tains for  security,  and  fugitives  of  the  worst  character  who 
sought  his  standard  for  the  chances  of  plundering  with  im- 
pumty.  ° 

The  Cherokees  had  been  encouraged  during  the  summer 
to  join_  in  ravaging   the  American   settlements  west   of  the 
mountains  as  far  as  Chiswell's  lead  mines.     Against  this  dan- 
ger Jefferson  organized,  in  the  soutli-western  counties  of  the 
state  of  which  he  was  the  governor,  a  regiment  of  four  hun- 
dred backwoodsmen  under  the  command  of  Colonel  WiUiam 
Campbeh    brother-in-law  of  Patrick  Henry;  in  an  interview 
with  ^\  ilham  Preston,  the  lieutenant  of  Washington  county 
as  the  south-west  of  Virginia  ^^•as  then  called,  he  clwelt  on  the 
resources  of  the  country,  the  spirit  of  congress,  and  the  charac- 
ter of  the  people;  and  for  himself  and  for  his  state  would 
admit  no  doubt  that,  in  spite  of  all  disasters,  a  continued  vigor- 
ous resistance  ^vould  luring  the  war  to  a  ha])py  issue  " 

At  Waxhaw,  Cornwallis  halted  for  a  few  days,  and,  that 
he  might  eradicate  the  spirit  of  patriotism  from  South  Carohna 
before  he  passed  beyond  its  borders,  he,  on  the  sixteenth  day 
of  feej^tember,  sequestered  by  proclamation  all  estates  holoni 
mg  to  the_  friends  of  America,  and  appointed  a  commissioner 
lor  the  seizure  ,.f  such  estates  both  real  and  personal.     The 
concealment,,removal,  or  injury  of  property  doomed  to  confis- 
cation was  punishable  as  an  abetting  of  rebellion.    The  seques- 
tration extended  to  debts  due  to  the  person  who  e  possessions 
^vero  confiscated;  and,  to  prevent  collusive  practices,  a  great 
reward  was  offered  to  those  who  should  make  discovery  of  tlie 
concealment  of  negroes,  horses,  cattle,  plate,  household  fumi- 
m-e,  books,  bonds,  deeds,  and  other  property.     To  patriots, 
10  alternative  was  left  but  to  fight  against  their  country  or 
t'i  encounter  exile  and  poverty, 
vol,.  V. — 27 


:>.  Ill 


M. 


.S9C    AMEKIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FfiANCK.     kp.  iv.;  on.  xxvi 

Tlio  cln(?fs  of  tlio  Clior(>l<o<'s  wore  at  tli:it  very  time  on 
tlioir  \\;i,y  to  Aii<>;usfii  to  roccive  tho  presents  wliicli  were  to 
Htinmhite  their  activity.  Aware  of  tlieir  coinin<j:,  (Mark,  a  fugi- 
tive from  (ieort!:ia,  forced  liis  way  luiclc  with  one  Inuuh-ed  riUc- 
inen  ;  liavinp;  joined  to  tliem  a  body  of  woodsmen,  lie  defeated 
the  British  garrison  under  Colonel  J3rown  at  Augusta,  and  cap- 
tured the  costly  presents  designed  for  the  Cherokees.  Tlie 
moment  was  crilical;  for  Cornwallis,  in  his  eagerness  to  draw 
strength  to  liis  own  army,  had  not  left  a  post  or  a  soldier  be- 
tween Augusta  and  Savannah,  and  tlie  alienated  people  had 
returned  most  rehuitantly  to  a  state  of  obedience.  With  a 
corps  of  one  hundred  ]>rovincial3  and  one  liundred  Cherokecs, 
Brown  maintaincMl  a  i)osition  on  (larden  Hill  for  nearly  a  week, 
when  he  was  rescued  by  Cruger  from  Ninety-Six.  At  his 
approach,  the  Americans  retired.  On  the  pursuit,  some  of 
them  were  scalped  and  some  taken  prisoners.  Of  the  latter, 
Captain  Ashby  and  twelve  others  were  hanged  under  the  eyes 
of  Brown  ;  tliirteen  who  were  delivered  to  the  Cherokecs  were 
killed  by  tortures,  or  by  the  tomahawk,  or  were  thrown  into 
tires.    I'hirty  in  all  were  put  to  death  hy  tlu;  orders  of  Brown. 

Cmger  desired  to  waylay  and  cajiture  the  retreating  party, 
and  Ferguson  eagerly  accepted  his  invitation  to  join  in  tlie 
enterprise.  Cruger  moved  with  circumspection,  taking  care 
not  to  be  led  too  far  from  the  fortress  of  Ninety-Six  ;  Fergu- 
son was  more  adventurous,  having  always  the  army  of  (Joni- 
wallis  on  his  riglit.  Near  the  Broad  river  his  party  encoun- 
tered Macdowell  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  militia  from 
Burk  and  ]iutherford  counties  in  North  Carolina,  pursued 
them  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  left  them  no  chance  of 
safety  but  by  Heeing  beyond  the  Alleghanies. 

Durmg  these  events  (Cornwallis  encountered  no  serious 
impediment  till  he  api)roached  (Miarlotte.  There  his  van  was 
driven  back  by  the  lire  of  a  small  body  of  mounted  men,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  AV^illiam  Richardson  Davie  of  North  Caro- 
lina. The  general  rode  up  in  person,  and  the  American  party 
was  dislodged  by  Webeter's  brigade ;  but  not  till  the  mounted 
Americans,  scarcely  forty  in  number,  had  for  several  minutes 
kept  the  British  army  at  bay. 

From   Charlotte,   Cornwallis    pursued   his   course  toward 


1780. 


CORNWALLIS   AND  THE  SOUTOERN  PEOPLE. 


307 

Salisbury.    Meai.ti.ne,  tlie  fugitives  under  IVraedowell  recount, 
ed  the  sorrows  of  their  funnlies  to  the  errugrant  freemen  on 
the  Watauga,  a.r.ong  whom  slavery  was  scarcely  known.     The 
backwoodsmen,  though  remote  from  the  world,  love  their  fel- 
ow-mcm.     In  the  pure  air  nnd  life  of  the  mountain  and  the 
lores    they  jom  serenity  with  courage.     They  felt  for  those 
who  had  led  to  them  ;  with  one  heart,  they  resolved  to  restore 
he  suppliants  to  their  homes,  and  for  that  purpose  formed 
tl.e.nselves  into  regin.ents  under  Isaac  Shelby  and  John  Sevier 
Shelby  despatched  a  messenger  to  William  Campbell  on  the 
iorks  of  lloLston;  and  the  field-officers  of  south-western  Vir- 
guua  unanimously  invited  him,  with  four  hundred  men    to 
join  in  the  expcKlition.    An  express  was  sent  to  C^olonel  Cleave- 
land  of  North  Carolina  ;  and  all  were  to  meet  at  liurk  county 
court-house,  on  the  waters  of  the  Catawba. 

The   three  regiments  from   the  west  of  the  Alleghanies 
under  Campbell  Shelby,  and  Sevier,  and  the  North  (farolina 
fugitives  under  llacdowell,  assembled  on  the  twenty-iifth  of 
September  at  Watauga.     On  the  next  day,  each  man  mounted 
on  his  own  horse,  armed  with  his  own  riile,  and  carrying  his 
own  store  of  provisions,  they  began  the  ride  over  the  moun- 
tains, where  the  passes  through  the  Alleghanies  are  the  high- 
est.    Not  even  a  bridle-path  led  through  the  forest,  nor  was 
«icrc  a  hoiise  for  lorty  miles  between  the  Watauga  and  the 
Ca  a^v•l)a.     The  men  left  their  families  in  secluded  valleys, 
distant  one  froni   the  other,  exposed  not  only  to   parties  of 
yahs  s,  but  of  Indians.    In  the  evening  of  the  thirtieth  they 
fonne(    a  junction  with   the  regiment  of  Colonel   Benjamin 
leaveland,  consisting  of  three  hundred  and  lifty  men  from 
the  Aorth  Carolina  counties  of  Wilkes  and  Surry.     The  next 
day  Macdowell  was  despatched  to  request  Gates  to  send  them 
a  general  officer  ;  "till  he  should  arrive,  Campbell  was  chosen 
to  act  as  commandant." 

I'VTguson  who  had  pursued  tlie  party  of  Macdowell  to  the 
toot  ol  the  Alleghanies,  and  had  spread  the  terror  of  invasion 
l)oyoiid  them,  moved  eastwardly  toward  CornwalHs  by  a  road 
from  Buffalo  ford  to  King's  Mountain,  which  oifered  ground 
for  a  strorig  encampment.  Of  the  parties  against  him  he  thus 
wrote  to  Cornwalli.:  "  They  are  become  an  object  of  conse- 


I  *  if' 

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398    AMERICA  IN  ALUANOK  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv. ;  on.  xxvi. 

quencc.  I  should  hope  for  success  against  tlicm  myself;  but, 
numbers  compared,  that  must  be  doubtful.  Three  or  four 
hundred  good  soldiei's,  part  dr.igoons,  v/oiild  fiiusli  the  busi- 
ness. Something  nuist  be  done  soon.  Tliis  is  tlieir  last  puish 
in  this  (piarter." 

On  receiving  the  letter,  Cornwall  is  ordered  Tarleton  to 
march  with  the  light  infantry,  the  British  legion,  and  a  three- 
pounder  to  his  assistance. 

At  that  time  Colonel  James  Williams  was  about  seventy 
miles  from  Salisbury,  in  the  forks  of  the  Catav/ba,  with  nearly 
four  hundred  and  lifty  horsemen,  in  pursuit  of  Ferguson. 
"Wise  and  vigilant,  he  kept  out  scouts  on  eveiy  side ;  and,  on 
the  second  of  October,  one  of  tliem  "  rejoiced  his  heart "  by 
bringing  him  the  news  tliat  one  half  of  the  whole  male  adult 
population  beyond  the  moimtains  were  drawing  near. 

Following  a  path  bi^tween  King's  ]\[ountain  and  the  main 
ridge  of  the  Alleghanies,  "  the  western  army,"  so  they  called 
themselves,  under  Campbell,  already  more  tjian  thirteen  hun- 
dred strong,  marched  to  the  Cowjieus  on  Eroad  river,  Avhere, 
on  the  evening  of  the  sixth,  they  were  joined  by  Williams 
with  four  hundred  men.  From  Williams  they  learned  nearly 
where  Ferguson's  party  was  encamped ;  and  a  council  of  the 
principal  officei-s  decided  to  go  that  very  night  to  strike  them 
by  surprise.  For  this  end  they  picked  out  nine  hundred  of 
their  best  horsemen ;  at  eight  o'clock  on  that  same  evening 
the  selected  men  began  their  march.  Riding  all  night,  with 
the  moon  two  days  past  its  first  quarter,  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  seventh  they  were  at  the  foot  of  King's  Mountain. 

The  little  brook  that  rijiples  through  the  narrow  valley 
flows  in  an  easterly  direction.  The  mountain,  which  rises 
a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  line  of  North  Carolina,  is  the 
termination  of  a  ridge  that  branches  from  the  noi-th-west  to  the 
south-east  from  a  spur  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  British,  in 
number  eleven  hundred  and  twenty -five,  of  whom  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  were  regulars,  were  posted  on  its  summit, 
"confident  that  they  could  not  be  forced  from  so  advanta- 
geous a  post,"  to  which  the  a])proach  was  precipitously  steep, 
the  slaty  rock  cropping  out  in  craggy  clilTs  and  forming  nat- 
ural breastworks  aloni?  its  sides  and  on  its  hei.Hita. 


IV. ;  on.  XXVI. 


1780.       CORNWALLIS  AND  THE  SOUTOEIIN  PEOPLE.         399 

The  Americans  dismounted,  and,  though  inferior  in  num 
bers  formed  themselves  into  four  columns?    A  part  of  C  W 
knds   reg,ment,   headed    by   Major    Winston,   and    Co  onel 
Severs  regnnent  formed  a  large  column  on  the  right      The 
other  part  of  Cleaveland's  regiment,  headed  by  CleaVeland 

formed  bvcLTir   ^-"^'^  "''^  "^'>^^   ''  '^'^  -^--n 
ormed  by  CampbelPs  regnnent  on  the  right  centre,  and  SheL 

bys_reg„.en   on  the  left  centre ;  so  that  Sevier's  right  near  y 

adjomed  Shell^^  left.     The  right  and  left  wings  wSre  to  pS 

the  pos.t,onof  Fergi.son,  and  from  opposite  sides  dimb^the 

ridgem  his  rear,  while  the  two  central  columns  were  to  at 

ackm  front.     In  this  order  "the  western  army"  advanced 

dl^W  '""'"  ''  '  "'^  ^'  ''''  ^"^-^  ^^^-  *^-/-e 
The  two  centre  columns,  headed  by  Campbell  and  Shelby 
nnbmg  the  mountain,  began  the  attack.  Shelby,  a  man  of 
the  hardiest  make,  stiff  as  iron,  among  the  dauntts  singled 
out  for  dauntlessness,  went  right  onward  and  upward  like  a 
man  who  had  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  but  the  one'thought^to 

h      ■      J  1        f  ''""^'''  ''''^'  ^""''^  ^^^'°^^t'^  charged  Camp, 
bell;  and  h,s  nflemen,  who  had  no  bayonets,  weretbliged  t^ 
gwe  way  for  a  short  distance  ;  but  "  they  were  soon  ralHed  by 
t  icr  gallant  con.mander  and  some  of  his  active  officers,"  and 
returned  to  the  attack  with  additional  ardor  " 
The  two  columns,  with  no  aid  but  from  a  part  of  Sevier's 
ro^iment,  kept  up  a  furious  and  bloody  battle  with  the  Brit- 
ish for  ten  minutes,  when  the  right  and  left  wings  of    the 
Americans    advancing  upon  their  flank   and  rear,  "the  fire 
«  general  all  around."     1  or  fifty-fiye  minutes' longer  the 
ftre  on  1  oth  sides  was  heavy  and  almost  incessant.     The  regu- 

A^  hfll    T'*'  ''"^^  "^^^  '''^''  '  momentary  in.pression. 
orninol         f^i '''''"  J'^^'' ''^""S  gained  the  summit  of  the 
0  ninence,  and  the  position  of  the  British  was  no  longer  tena- 
nt   ,    r '^^"  ^^''^^"^g  be^«  killed,  the  enemy  attempted  to 

^0 Id  m  check  by  the  brave  men  of  Williams  and  Cleaveland, 
Urt)  am   Depeyster,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  British 
i'o,.ted  a  flag.     The  firing  immediately  ceased  j  the  enemy  laid 


Ipf 

I 

i! 

J    1. 1 


mi 


r  », 


t » 


>.  i  'J 


IM 


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I  xhAj 

I 


1 1 1 


J-.i 


400    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep  iv.;  on.  xxvi. 


•I   1  = 
ii  .'-I 


11,  ?i 


''  «i. 


fv 


,Ii! 


down  their  arms  and  surrendered  themselves  prisonera  at  dis- 
cretion. 

The  loss  of  the  British  on  that  day  was  at  least  eleven 
hundred  and  four.  Four  hundred  and  tifty-six  of  them  were 
either  killed,  or  too  severely  wounded  to  leave  the  ground ; 
the  number  of  prisoners  was  six  hundred  and  forty-eight.  On 
the  American  side  the  rcgimeut  of  Campbell  suffered  more 
than  any  other  in  the  action ;  the  total  loss  was  twenty-eight 
killed  and  sixty  wounded.  Among  those  who  fell  was  Colonel 
James  WilHams  of  Ninety-Six,  a  man  of  an  exalted  character, 
of  a  career  brief  but  glorious.  An  ungenerous  enemy  revenged 
themselves  for  his  virtues  by  nearly  extirpating  his  family; 
they  could  not  take  away  his  light  to  ])e  remembered  by  his 
country  with  honor  and  affection  to  the  latest  time. 

Among  tlie  captives  there  were  house-burners  and  assassins. 
Private  soldiers — who  had  witnessed  tlie  sorrows  of  children 
and  women,  robbed  and  wronged,  shelterless,  stripped  of  aU 
clo*'  is  but  those  they  wore,  nestling  about  fires  kindled  on 
the  ground  and  mourning  for  tlieir  fathers  and  husbands — exe- 
cuted nine  or  ten  in  -^-taKation  for  the  frequent  and  barbarous 
use  of  the  gallows  at  Camden,  Ninety-Six,  and  Augusta ;  but 
Campbell  at  once  intei-vened,  and  in  general  orders,  by  threat- 
ening the  delinquents  with  certain  and  effectual  punishment, 
secured  protection  to  the  prisoners. 

Just  below  the  forks  of  the  Catawba  the  tidings  of  the  de- 
feat reached  Tarleton  ;  his  party  in  all  haste  rejoined  Cornwal- 
lis.  Tlie  victory  at  King's  Mountain,  which  in  the  spirit  of 
the  American  soldiers  was  like  the  rising  at  Concord,  in  its  ef- 
fects like  the  successes  at  Bennington,  changed  the  aspect  of 
the  war.  The  loyalists  of  North  Carolina  no  longer  dared  rise. 
It  fired  the  patriots  of  tlie  two  Carolinas  with  fresh  zeal.  It 
encouraged  the  fragments  of  the  defeated  and  scattered  Amer- 
ican army  to  seek  each  other  and  organize  themselves  anew. 
It  quickened  the  North  Carolina  legislature  to  earnest  efforts. 
It  inspirited  Virginia  to  devote  her  resources  to  the  country 
south  of  her  border.  The  appearance  on  the  frontiers  of  a  nu- 
merous enemy  from  settlements  beyond  the  mountains,  whose 
very  names  had  been  unknown  to  the  British,  took  Cornwallis 
by  surprise,  and  their  success  was  fatal  to  his  intended  expedi- 


1780.       COKNWALLIS  AND  THE  SOUTilEKN   I'EUPLE.         40I 

tion.  He  had  hoped  to  step  with  ease  from  one  Carolina  to 
the  other,  and  from  these  to  the  conquest  of  Virginia ;  and  he 
had  now  no  clioiee  but  to  retreat. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth  his  troops  began  their 
march  back  from  Charlotte  to  the  Catawba  ford.  The  men 
of  Mecklenburg  and  Rowan  counties  had  disputed  his  advance  ; 
they  now  harassed  his  foraging  parties,  intercepted  his  de- 
spatches, and  cut  oflE  his  communications.  Soldiei-s  of  the 
militia  hung  on  his  rear.  Twenty  wagons  were  captured, 
laden  with  stores  and  the  knapsacks  of  the  light  infantry 
legion.  Single  men  would  ride  within  gunshot  of  the  retreat- 
ing army,  discharge  their  rifles,  and  escape. 

The  Catawba  ford  was  crossed  witli  difficulty  on  account 
of  a  great  fall  of  rain.  For  two  days  the  royal  forces  remained 
in  the  Catawba  settlement,  Cornwallis  suffering  from  fever, 
the  army  from  want  of  forage  and  provisions.  The  command 
on  the  retreat  fell  to  Rawdon.  The  soldiers  liad  no  tents. 
For  several  days  it  rained  incessantly.  Waters  and  deep  mud 
choked  the  roads.  At  night  the  army  bivouacked  in  the 
woods  in  unwholesome  air;  sometimes  without  meat;  at 
others,  without  bread.  Once  for  five  days  it  lived  upon  In- 
dian corn  gathered  from  the  fields,  five  ears  being  the  day's 
allowance  for  two  soldiers.  But  for  the  personal  exertions  of 
the  militia,  most  of  whom  M'ere  mounted,  it  would  not  have 
been  supported.  After  a  march  of  fifteen  days  it  encamped 
at  AVinnsborongh,  an  intermediate  station  between  Camden 
and  Ninety-Six. 

All  the  while  IMarion  had  been  on  the  alert.  Two  hundred 
tories  had  been  sent  in  September  to  surprise  him  ;  and  with 
fifty-three  men  he  first  surprised  a  part  of  his  pursuers,  and 
then  drove  the  main  body  to  fiight.  At  Black  Mingo,  on  the 
twenty-eighth,  he  made  a  successful  attack  on  a  guard  of  sixty 
militia,  and  took  prisoners  those  who  were  under  its  escort. 
The  British  were  burning  houses  on  Little  Pedee,  and  he  per- 
mitted his  men  of  that  district  to  return  to  protect  their  wives 
and  families ;  but  he  would  not  suffer  retaliation,  and  wrote 
with  truth :  "  There  is  not  one  house  burned  by  my  orders 
or  by  any  of  ray  people.  It  is  what  I  detest,  to  distress  poor 
women  and  children." 


i. 

1 

\     • 

IH 

1 

1  *  * 

M 

<!lHi 


ir 


? 

'1 

1>.'-^ 


402    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  on.xxvi. 


*    *      J 


m 


fir 


nii 


iii 


"I  most  sincerely  hope  you  will  get  at  Mr.  ]\rarion,"  wrote 
Comwallis  on  the  iifth  of  November,  as  he  despatched  Tarle- 
ton  in  pursuit  of  hiui.  Tliis  othcer  and  his  corps  set  fire  to  all 
the  houses,  and  destroyed  ail  the  corn  from  Camden  down  to 
Nelson's  ferry ;  he  beat  the  widow  of  a  general  ollicer  because 
she  could  not  tell  where  Marion  was  encamped,  burned  her 
dwelling,  laid  waste  everything  about  it,  and  did  not  leave  her 
a  change  of  raiment.  The  Hnc  of  their  ir.urch  could  be  traced 
by  groups  of  houseless  women  and  children,  onco  of  ainplo 
fortune,  sitting  round  fires  in  the  open  air. 

As  for  Marion,  after  having  kept  his  movements  secret 
and  varied  his  en"ampment  every  night,  his  numbers  in- 
creased ;  then  selecting  a  strong  post  "  within  the  dark  mo- 
rass,"^ ho  defied  an  attack.  But  just  at  that  moment  new  dan- 
gers impended  from  another  quarter. 

Sumter  had  rallied  the  ])atriots  in  tlie  country  above  Cam- 
den, and  in  frequent  skirmishes  kept  the  field.     Mounting  his 
partisans,  he  intercepted  British  supplies  of  all  sorts,  and^'sent 
parties  within  fourteen  miles  of  AVinnsborough.     Having  as- 
certained the  number  and  position  of  his  troops,  Cornwalhs 
despatched  a  party  under  Major  Wemyss  against  him.    After 
a  mai-ch  of  t\venty-four  miles  with  mounted  infantry,  Wemyss 
reached  Fishdam  on  Broad  river,  the  camp  of  General  Sumter, 
and  at  the  head  of  his  corps  charged  the  picket.     The  attack 
waa  repellcf';  he  himself  was  wounded  and  taken  pnsoner. 
A  memoranuum  was  found  upon  him  of  houses  burned  by  his 
command.     lie  had  hanged  Adam  Cusack,  a  Carolinian,  who 
had  neithtT  given  his  parole,  nor  accepted  protection,  nor  served 
in  the  patriot  army ;  yet  his  captors  would  not  harm  a  man 
who  was  their  j^risonor. 

The  position  of  the  British  in  the  upper  country  became 
precarious.  Tarleton  was  suddenly  recalled  from  the  pursuit 
of  Marion  and  ordered  to  take  the  nearest  path  against  Sumter, 
who  had  passed  the  Broad  river,  formed  a  junction  with  Clark 
and  Brennan,  and  threatened  Ninety-Six.  One  regiment  was 
sent  forward  to  join  him  on  his  march ;  another  followed  for 
his  support.  Apprised  of  Tarleton's  approach,  Sumter  posted 
himself  strongly  on  the  plantation  of  Blackstock.  At  five  m 
the  afternoon  of  the  twentieth  of  November,  Tarleton  drew 


/ 


1780.       COIiNWALLIS  AND  THE  SOUTHERN  PEOPLE.         403 

nearmadvancoof  hin  liglit  infantry;  and  with  two  liundrod 
•md  fifty  mounted  men  lie  made  a  precipitate  attack  on  Sumter's 
superior  force.  The  hillside  in  front  of  the  Americans  was 
steep;  their  rear  was  protected  by  the /apid  river  Tvocr-  their 
left  was  covered  by  a  large  barn  of  logs,  betwcen\"hich  the 
riflemen  could  hre  with  security.  The  sixty-third  British  regi- 
ment liavmg  lost  its  commanding  officer,  two  lieutenants,  and 
one  t  urd  of  its  privates,  Tarleton  retreated,  leaving  his 
wounded  to  the  mercy  of  the  victor.  The  loss  of  SumtJ'r  waa 
very  small ;  but,  being  himself  disabled  by  a  severe  wound  he 
crossed  the  Tyger,  taking  his  wounded  men  with  him.         ' 

By  the  lavish  distribution  of  presents,  the  Indian  agents  ob- 
tained promises  from  the  chiefs  of  twenty-live  hundred  Chero- 
kees,  and  a  numerous  body  of  Creeks,  to  lay  waste  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Watauga,  Ilolston,  Kentucky,  and  lYolichucky 
and  even  to  extend  their  ravages  to  the  Cumberland  and  Green 
rivers,  that  the  attenf  m  of  the  mountaineers  might  bo  diverted 
to  their  own  immediate  concerns.     Cornwallis  gave  orders  to 
the  reinforcement  of  three  thousand  sent  by  Clinton  into  the 
Chesapeake  to  embark  for  Cape  Fear  river.      So  ended  his 
first  attempt  to  penetrate  to  Virginia.    He  was  driven  back  by 
the  spontaneous  risings  of  the  southern  and  south-western 
people ;  and  the  unwholesome  exhalations  of  autumn  swept 
men  from  every  garrison  in  the  low  country  faster  than  Great 
Lritaan  could  replace  them. 


!  ij 


(t 


U  v. 


404  A^IERIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FIJANCE.     eimv.  ;  cu.  xxvu. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


S 1 


li!:^ 


THE   RISE   OF  FEEE  COMMONWEALTHS. 

1780. 

Fkeedom  is  of  all  races  and  of  all  nationalities.  It  is  older 
than  bonda<;^e,  and  ever  rises  from  the  enslavements  of  \aolence 
or  custom  or  abuse  of  power;  for  the  rights  of  man  spring 
from  eternal  law,  are  kept  alive  by  the  persistent  energy  of 
constant  nature,  and  by  their  own  indestructibihty  prove  their 
lineage  as  the  children  of  omnipotence. 

In  an  edict  of  tlie  eiglith  of  August  1779,  Louis  XVI.  an- 
nounced "  his  regret  that  many  of  his  subjects  were  still  with- 
out personal  liberty  and  the  prerogatives  of  property,  attached 
to  the  glebe,  and,  so  to  say,  confounded  with  it."  To  all  serfs 
on  the  estates  of  tlie  crown  ho  therefore  gave  back  their  free- 
dom. He  had  done  away  witli  torture,  and  he  wished  to  eiface 
every  vestige  of  a  rigorous  feudalism ;  but  he  was  restrained 
by  his  respect  for  the  laws  of  property,  which  he  held  to  be 
the  groundwork  of  order  and  justice.  While  the  delivering 
up  of  a  runaway  serf  was  in  all  cases  forbidden,  for  emancipa- 
tion outside  of  his  own  domains  he  did  no  more  than  give 
leave  to  other  proprietors  to  follow  his  example,  to  which  even 
the  clergy  declined  to  conform.  But  the  words  of  the  kinjr 
spoken  to  all  Fi-ance  deeply  branded  the  wrong  of  keeping 
Frenchmen  in  bondage  to  Frenchmen. 

In  Overyssel,  a  province  of  the  IS  etherlands.  Baron  van 
der  Capellcn  tot  den  Pol,  the  friend  of  America,  sorrowed 
over  the  survival  of  tlie  ancient  system  of  villeinage ;  and,  in 
spite  of  tlie  resistance  and  sworn  hatred  of  almost  all  the  no- 
bles, he,  iu  17S2,  brought  abov"  its  complete  aboiitiou. 


V. ;  cu.  xxva 


1780. 


THE   RISE   OF  FREE  COMMONWEALT1I8. 


405 

Uere  the  movement  for  emaTiciputlon  durin-  the  American 
revolution  ceased  for  the  Old  World.     "  He  that  savH  nlaverv 
is  opposed  to  Christianity  is  a  liar,"  wrote  Luther,  in  the  six- 
teenth century.      "To   condemn  slavery  is   to  condemn   the 
JJoIy  Ghost,"  were  the  words  of  Dossuet  near  the  end  of  tlio 
ecventeent...     In  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  the  own- 
ership of  udnto  men  by  white  men  still  biiylited  more  than 
the  half  of  Europe.      The  evil  shielded  itself  under  a  new 
plea,  where  a  dilference  of  skin  set  a  visible   mark   on  the 
victims  of  commercial  avarice,  and  strengthened  the  ties  of 
selhshness  by  tl- ^  pride  of  race.      In  1T8U  Edimind  Burke 
tasked  himself  •  ,  find  out  what  laws  could  check  the  new 
form  of  serN-itu.     which  wrapt  all  quarters  of  the  globe  in 
Its  baleful  influences ;  yet  he   did  not  see   a  glimmerin..  of 
hope  even  for  an  abolition  of  the  trade  in  slaves,  and  Snly 
aimed  at  establishing  regulations  for  their  safe  and  comfort- 
able transportation.      He  was   certain  that  no  one  of  tliein 
wa^  ever  so  beneficial  to  the  master  as  a  freeman  who  deals 
with  him  on  equal  footing  by  convention ;  yet  for  slave  plan- 
tations he  suggested  nothing  more  than  some  supervision  by 
the  state,  and  some  mitigation  of  the  power  of  the  master  to 
divide  families  by  partial  sales.     Although  for  himsolf  he  in- 
clined to  a  gradual  emanci]jation,   his   code  for  the  neo-roes 
was  founded  on  the  conviction  that  slavery  was  "an  incurable 
evil.^      He  sought  no  more  than  to  make  that  evil  as  small  as 
possible,  and  to  draw  out  of  it  some  collateral  good. 

George  III.  was  the  firm  friend  of  the  slave-trade;  and 
Ihur  ow,  one  of  his  lord  chancellors,  so  late  as  1799  insisted 
that  the  proposal  to  terminate  it  was  "  altogether  miserable  and 
contemptible."  Yet  the  quality  of  our  kind  is  such  that  a 
goveniment  cannot  degrade  a  race  without  marring  the  noble- 
ness of  our  nature. 

_  So  long  as  the  legislation  of  the  several  English  colonies 
m  America  remained  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  king,  all  hope 
ot  ±orl)idduig  or  even  limiting  the  importation  of  negro  sl-^ves 
was  made  vain  by  the  mother  country.  The  first  American 
congress  formed  an  association  "wholly  to  discontinue  the 
slave-trade."  Jefferson  inserted  in  his  draft  of  the  declaration 
ol  xVmerican  independence  a  denunciation  of  the  slave-trade 


I  !  1 


Mi 


i06  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


Ep.  IV.;  cii.  xsvii. 


and  of  slavery,  biit  it  was  rejected  by  the  congress  of  1770  in 
deference  to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  antagonism 
between  the  nortliern  and  southern  states,  founded  on  cU- 
mate,  pursuits,  and  labor,  broke  out  on  the  first  effort  to 
unite  them  permanently.  When  members  from  the  Korth 
spoke  freely  of  the  evil  of  slavery,  a  member  from  South 
Carolina  answered  that,  "  if  property  in  slaves  should  be  cpics- 
tioned,  there  must  be  an  end  of  confederation."  In  the  same 
month  the  vote  on  taxing  persons  claimed  as  property  laid  bare 
the  existence  of  a  geographical  division  of  parties,  the  states 
north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  voting  compactly  on  the  one 
side,  and  those  south  of  that  line,  which  were  duly  represented, 
on  the  other. 

The  clashing  between  the  two  sections  fastened  the  atten- 
tion of  reflecting  observers.  In  August  1778,  Gerard,  soon 
after  his  reception  at  Philadelphia,  reported  to  Ver^-enues: 
"  The  states  of  the  South  and  of  the  North,  under  existino- 
subjects  of  division  and  estrangement,  are  two  distinct  parties, 
which  at  present  count  but  few  deserters.  The  division  is 
attributed  to  moral  and  i)hilosophical  causes."  lie  further 
reported  that  the  cabal  against  Washington  found  supporters 
exclusively  in  the  North. 

The  French  minister  desired  to  repress  the  ambition  of 
congress  for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  because  it  might 
prove  an  obstacle  to  connection  with  Spain;  and  he  found 
support  in  northern  men.  Their  hatred  of  slavery  was  not  an 
impulse  of  feeling,  but  an  earnest  conviction.  No  one  could 
declare  himself  more  strongly  for  the  freedom  of  the  negro 
than  Gouverneur  ]\Iorris  of  New  York,  a  man  of  business  and 
a  man  of  pleasure.  His  hostility  to  slavery  brought  him  into 
some  agreement  with  the  policy  of  Gerard,  to  whom,  one  day 
in  October,  ho  eai<l  that  Spain  would  have  no  cause  to  fear 
the  great  body  of  the  confederation,  for  reciprocal  jealousy 
and  separate  interests  would  never  permit  its  raemboi's  to  unite 
against  her;  that  several  of  the  most  cnHghteued  of  his  col- 
leagues were  stnick  with  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  law  "  de 
coercendo  iiaperio,"  setting  bounds  to  the  American  empire ; 
that  the  provinces  of  the  South  already  very  much  weakened  the 
confederation ;  that  further  extension  on  that  side  would  ini- 


1? 


I 


;  oil.  xsvii. 


1780. 


THE  RISE  OF  FREE   COMMONWExVLTHS. 


407 


measurably  aiigmont  tliis  inconvenience ;  that  tlie  South  was  the 
seat  of  wealth  and  of  weakness ;  that  tlie  poverty  and  vigor  of 
the  North  would  alwayo  be  the  safeguard  of  tlie  republic"  that 
on  the  side  of  the  North  lay  the  necessity  to  expand  and  to 
gain  strcugtli ;  that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Oliio  sliould  belong  exclusively  to  Spain,  as  the 
only  means  of  retaining  the  numerous  population  whicli  would 
be  formed  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes;  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  these  new  and  immense  countries,  be  they  English  or 
be  they  Amei-icans,  having  the  outlet  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence 
on  the  one  side  and  that  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  other,  would 
bo  in  a  condition  to  domineer  over  the  United  States  and  over 
Spain,  or  to  make  themselves  independent— that  on  this  point 
there  was,  therefore,  a  common  interest.  Some  dread  of  the 
relative  increase  of  the  South  may  have  mixed  with  the  impa- 
tient earnestness  with  which  two  at  least  of  the  New  England 
states  demanded  the  acquisition  of  Nova  Scotia  as  indisp'ensa- 
ble  to  their  safety,  and  therefore  to  be  secured  at  the  pacifica- 
tion with  England.  The  leader  in  this  policy  was  Samuel 
Adams,  whom  the  French  minister  always  found  in  his  way. 

The  several  states  employed  black  men  as  they  pleased  • 
it  was  the  rule  that  the  slave  who  served  in  the  ranks  was 
enfranchised  by  the  service.  When,  in  ]\[areh  1779,  congress 
recommended  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  to  raise  three  tliou- 
sand  active,  able-bodied  negro  men,  tlie  recommendation  was 
coupled  with  a  promise  of  "  a  full  compensation  to  the  pro- 
prietors of  such  negroes  for  the  property." 

So  long  as  Jefferson  was  in  congress,  he  kept  Virginia  and 
Massachusetts  in  a  close  and  unselfish  union,  of  which  the 
unanimous  assertion  of  independence  was  the  fruit.  When 
he  withdrew  to  service  in  his  native  commonwealth,  their  friend- 
ship lost  something  of  its  disinterestedness.  Virginia  mani- 
fested its  discontent  by  successive  changes  in  its  delegation, 
and  the  two  great  states  came  more  and  more  to  represent 
different  classes  of  culture  and  ideas  and  interests. 

In  1770,  wlienthc  prosperity  of  New  England  was  tliought 
to  depend  on  the  fisheries,  and  when  its  pathetic  appeals,  not 
unmiugled  with  menaces,  had  been  u^ed  prodigally  and  with- 
out effect,  Samuel  Adams  said  rashly  that  "  it  would  become 


/ 


II 

jl 


!  i  4i  i. 

!!1 


S'fi 


'?! 


408  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  cri.  xxvii. 

more  and  more  necessary  for  the  two  empires  to  separate." 
On  the  other  ht«,ud,  when  the  Kortli  ollered  a  preliminary  reso- 
lution tiuit  the  country,  even  if  deserted  by  France  and  Spain, 
Avould  continue  the  war  for  the  sake  of  tlic  llsheries,  four  states 
read  the  draft  of  a  definitive  protest. 

In  the  assertion  of  the  sovereignty  of  eacli  separate  state 
there  was  no  distinction  between  North  and  South.  Massachu- 
setts expressed  itself  as  absolutely  as  South  Carolina.  As  a 
consequence,  the  confederation  could  contain  no  interdict  of 
the  slave-trade,  and  the  importation  of  slaves  would  therefore 
remain  open  to  any  state  according  to  its  choice.  When,  on 
the  seventeenth  of  June  1779,  a  renunciation  of  the  power  to 
engngo  in  the  slave-trade  was  proposed  as  an  article  to  he 
inserted  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  all  the  states,  Georgia  alone 
being  absent,  refused  the  concession  by  the  votes  of  every 
member  except  Jay  and  Gerry. 

Luzerne,  the  French  envoy  ^vho  succeeded  Gerard,  soon 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  confederacy  would  run  the  risk 
of  an  early  dissolution,  if  it  should  give  itself  up  to  the  hatred 
which  began  to  show  itself  between  the  Novth  and  South. 

Vermont,  whose  laws  from  the  first  rejected  slavery, 
knocked  steadily  at  the  door  of  cougress  to  be  taken  in  as  a 
state,  and  Washington  befriended  its  desire.  In  August  1781 
its  envoys  were  present  in  rhiladeli)hia,  entreating  admission. 
New  York  gave  up  its  oi)position  ;  but  the  states  of  the  South 
held  that  the  admission  of  Vermont  would  destroy  "  the  balance 
of  power "  between  the  two  sections  of  the  confederacy  and 
give  the  preponderance  to  the  North.  The  idea  was  then 
started  that  the  six  states  south  of  JMason  and  Dixon's  line 
should  be  conciliated  by  a  concession  of  a  seventh  vote  which 
they  were  to  exercise  in  common ;  but  the  proposal,  though 
it  formed  a  subject  of  conversation,  was  ue\'er  brought  before 
congress ;  and  Vermont  was  left  to  wait  till  a  southern  state 
could  sinndtaneously  be  received  into  the  union. 

In  regard  to  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country,  congress 
was  divided  between  what  the  French  envoy  named  "  Galil- 
eans" and  "anti-Gallicans  :  "  the  southerners  were  found  more 
among  the  "  Galileans ;"  the  North  was  suspected  of  a  par- 
tiality for  England. 


V. ;  en.  xxvii. 


en  m  as  a 


1780.  THE  RISE  OF  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  409 

TJicre  was  no  hope  of  the  deliveiy  of  tlie  country  from 
slavery  by  congress.  Tint  man  can  never  override  natural  law 
and  in  tlie  high  court  of  the  Eternal  Providence  justice  forffes 
her  weapon  long  before  she  strikes.  Nowhere  was  slavery 
formally  established  in  the  organic  law  as  a  permanent  social 
relation  ;  the  courts  of  Virginia  did  not  recognise  a  ri^-ht  of 
property  in  the  future  increase  of  slaves;  in  no  one  state  did 
18  constitution  abridge  the  power  of  its  legislature  to  abolish 
slavery.  In  no  one  constitution  did  the  M^ords  "slave"  and 
"slavery  find  a  place  except  in  that  of  Delaware,  and  there 
only  by  way  of  a  prohibition  of  bringing  slaves  into  the  state. 

In  the  x^orth  the  severity  of  the  climate,  the  poverty  of 
the  8o.l_,   and   the  all-pervading  habit  of  laborious  industrv 
among  its  j.eople,  set  narrow  limits  to  slavery;  in  the  states 
nearest  the  tropics   it  throve  luxuriously,  and  its  influence 
entered  mto  their  inmost  political  life.     Virginia,  with  soil 
and  temperature  and  mineral  wealth  inviting  free  and  skilled 
labor,  yet  with  lowland  where  the  negro  attained  his  perfect 
physical  development,  stood  as  mediator  between   the  two 
Many  of  her  statesmen-George  Mason,  Patrick  Henry  Jef- 
ferson, Wythe,  Pendleton,  Kiehard  Henry  Lee-emulated  each 
other  m  confessing  the  iniquity  and  the  inexpediency  of  hold- 
ing men  in  bondage.     We  have  seen  the  legislature  of  colonial 
Virgmia  in  1772,  in  their  fruitless  battle  with  the  king  respect- 
mg  the  slave-trade,  of  which  he  was  the  great  champion,  do- 
niand  its  abolition  as  needful  for  their  happiness  and  their 
very  existence.     In  January  1773,  Patrick  Henry  threw  ridi- 
cule on  the  clergy  of  Virginia  for  their  opposition  to  emanci- 
pation.    In  the  same  year  George  Mason  foretold  the  blight 
that  was  to  avenge  negro  slavery.     When  the  convention  of 
\  irgnna  adopted  their  declaration  of  rights  as  the  foundation 
of  government  for  themselves  and  their  posterity,  they  set 
tortli  that  all  men  are  by  nature  equally  free  and  have  inherent 
rights  to  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  liberty,  the  means  of  ac- 
qmnng  property  and  pursuing  happiness ;  yet  this  authorita- 
tive proclamation  of  the  equal  rights  of  all  men  brought  no 
rehef  lo  the  enslaved. 

In  1778,  Virginia  prohibited  what  under  the  supremacy  of 
i^iigland  she  could  uoL  have  prohibited-the  introduction  of 


W-' 


i     J 


'm 


il    !H 


410  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.iv.;  on.  xxvii. 


■1  ii 


Hi 


any  slave  by  land  or  sea,  nnd  ordered  tlie  emancipation  of  everji 
slave  introduced  from  abroad.  But  tbe  bill  respecting  resident 
slaves,  prepared  by  the  commissioners  for  codifying  the  laws, 
was  a  mere  digest  of  existing  enactments.  Its  authors  agreed 
in  wisliiiig  that  the  assembly  might  provide  by  amendment 
for  universal  freedom;  and  it  is  the  testimony  of  Jefferson 
that,  with  the  concurrence  of  himself,  Pendleton,  and  Wythe, 
an  amendatory  bill  was  prepared  "  to  emancipate  all  slaves 
born  after  passing  the  act ; "  but  the  proposal  was  blended  with 
the  idea  of  their  deportation,  and  nothing  came  of  it.  The 
statute  drafted  by  Jelferson,  and  in  1779  proposed  by  ]\Iason, 
to  deline  who  shall  be  citizens  of  Virginia,  declared  the  natu- 
ral right  of  expatriation  in  opposition  to  the  English  assertion 
of  perpetual  allegiance,  and  favored  naturalization  ;  but  it  con- 
fined the  right  of  expatriation  and  citizenship  to  white  men. 

In  17S0,  Madison  expressed  the  wish  that  black  men  might 
be  set  free  and  then  made  to  serve  in  tlie  army.  This  was 
often  done  by  individuals;  but,  before  the  oud  of  the  same 
year,  Virginia  offered  a  bounty,  not  of  money  and  lands  only, 
but  of  a  negro,  to  each  white  man  who  would  enlist  for  the  Vvar. 

In  May  1782,  just  thirteen  years  after  Jefferson  had 
brought  in  a  bill  giving  power  of  unconditional  emancipation 
to  the  masters  of  slaves,  the  measure  was  adopted  by  the  legis- 
lature of  Virginia.  Under  this  act  more  slaves  received  tlicir 
freedom  than  Avere  liberated  in  Pennsylvania  or  in  Massachu- 
setts. Even  had  hght  broken  in  on  Jefferson's  mind  through 
the  gloom  in  which  the  subject  was  involved  for  him,  Virginia 
would  not  have  accepted  from  him  a  plan  for  making  the  state 
a  free  commouwcaltli ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever 
reconciled  himself  to  the  idea  of  emancipated  black  men  hving 
side  by  side  with  white  men  as  ec^ual  sharers  in  political  rights 
and  duties  and  powers.  The  result  of  his  efforts  and  reflec 
tions  he  uttered  in  these  ominous  foreboding; ; :  "  Xothing  is 
more  certainly  written  in  the  book  of  fate  than  that  these 
people  are  to  be  free  ;  nor  is  it  less  certain  that  the  two  races, 
equally  free,  cannot  live  in  the  same  government."  In  tho 
helplessness  of  despair,  Jefferson,  so  early  as  1782,  dismissed 
the  problem  from  his  thoughts  with  these  words :  "  I  tremble 
for  my  country  wlieii  I  relloct  that  God  is  just,  tluit  his  justice 


7. ;  on.  XXVII. 


1780.  TOE  RISE   OF  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  4U 

cannot  sleep  forever.  The  way,  I  hope,  is  preparing,  under  tiie 
allspices  of  Leaven,  for  a  total  emancipation."  At  that  time 
Washington  was  a  kind  and  considerate  master  of  slaves.  By 
slow  degrees  the  sentiment  grew  up  in  his  mind  that  to  hold 
men  m  bondage  was  a  wrong ;  that  Virginia  should  proceed 
to  emancipation  by  general  statute  of  the  state ;  and  that,  if 
she  refused  to  do  so,  each  individual  should  act  for  his  o^ 
household. 

Delaware,  wh'ch,  on  the  twentieth  of  September  1776 
adopted  Its  constitution  as  an  independent  state,  had,  in  pro^ 
portion  to  its  numbers,  excelled  all  in  the  voluntary  emauci- 
pation  of  slaves.  Its  constitution  absolutely  prohibited  the 
mtroduction  uf  any  slave  from  Africa,  or  any  slave  for  sale 
Irom  any  part  of  the  world,  as  an  article  which  "  ought  never 
to  be  violated  on  any  pretence  whatever." 

In  the  constituent  convention  of  New  York,  Gouvemeur 
Morns  struggled  hard  for  measures  tending  to  abolish  domes- 
tic skvery,  "  so  that  m  future  ages  every  human  being  who 
breathed^the  air  of  the  state  might  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a 
ireeman.  TJie  proposition,  though  strongly  supported,  espe- 
cially by  the  interior  and  newer  counties,  was  lost  by  the  vote 
of  the  counties  on  the  Hudson.  Jay  lamented  the  want  of 
a  clause  agamst  the  continuance  of  domestic  slavery.  Still,  the 
declaration  of  independence  was  incorporated  into  the  consti- 
tution of  New  York ;  and  all  its  great  statesmen  were  opposed 
to  slavery.  All  pari;s  of  the  common  law,  and  all  statutes 
and  acts  repugnant  to  the  constitution,  were  abrogated  and  re- 
pealed by  the  constitution  itself. 

It  has  ah-eady  been  narrated  that,  in  1777,  the  people  of 
Vei-mont,  in  separating  themselves  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
JNew  lork,  framed  a  constitution  which  prohibited  slavery. 

In  July  1778,  William  Livingston,  the  governor  of  New 
Jersey,  invited  the  assembly  to  lay  the  foundation  for  the  manu- 
mission of  the  negroes.  At  the  request  of  the  house,  which 
thought  the  situation  too  critical  for  the  immediate  discussion 
o±  the  measure,  the  message  was  withdrawn.  "But  I  am  de- 
termined," wrote  the  governor,  "as  far  as  my  influence 
extends,  to  push  the  matter  till  it  is  effected,  being  convinced 

tiiat  tbe  practice  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of 
•  VOL,  v.— 28  -^  ^ 


412  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     nr.iv.;  on.  xxvil 


ii ;,  I 


ir 


ItSl^tEiiifl 


Christianity  ami  limnanity ;  and  in  Atiiericaiis,  wlio  have 
almost  idolized  libei-ty,  peculiarly  odious  and  disgraceful."  Of 
the  two  Jorseys,  slavery  had  struck  dee[)er  root  in  the  East 
from  tho  original  policy  of  its  pro^jrictaries  ;  the  humane  si)irit 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  ruled  o])inion  in  West  Jersey. 

The  name  of  Pennsylvania  was  dear  throughout  the  world 
as  tlio  symbol  of  freedom  ;  her  citizens  proved  her  right  to 
her  good  report  by  preparing  to  abolish  slavery.  The  number 
of  their  slaves  had  grown  to  be  about  six  thousand,  di tiering 
little  from  tho  number  in  jMassachusetts,  and  being  in  propor- 
tion to  the  whole  population  nuich  less  than  in  New  York  or 
in  New  Jersey.  The  fourteenth  of  A\n'\[  1775  was  tlie  day  of 
founding  the  Pennsylvania  society  for  the  abolititni  of  slavery, 
the  relief  of  free  negroes  unlawfully  held  in  bondage,  ami  tlio 
improvement  of  the  condition  '>f  the  African  race.  In  1777, 
in  the  heads  of  a  bill  proposed  l)y  the  council,  a  suggestion  was 
made  for  ridding  the  state  of  slavery.  Tho  retreat  of  the 
British  from  Philadelphia,  and  the  restoration  to  Pennsylvania 
of  peace  within  its  borders,  called  forth  in  its  people  a  senti- 
ment of  devout  gratitude.  ITnder  its  inlluence,  (rcoi-ge  P>i'yan, 
then  vice-president,  in  a  message  to  the  assembly  of  the  ninth 
of  November  1778,  pressed  upon  their  attention  the  bill  i)ro- 
posed  in  the  former  year  for  manumitting  infant  negroes  born 
of  slaves,  and  thus  in  an  easy  mode  abrogating  slavery,  the  oi> 
probrinm  of  America.  "In  divesting  tho  state  of  slaves," 
said  Bryan,  "you  will  equally  serve  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
policy,  and  offer  to  God  one  of  the  most  proper  and  best  re- 
turns of  gratitude  for  his  great  deliverance  of  us  and  our  pos- 
terity from  thraldom  ;  you  will  also  set  your  character  for 
justice  and  benevolence  in  the  true  point  of  view  to  all  Eu- 
rope, who  arc  astonished  to  see  a  people  struggling  for  liberty 
holding  negroes  in  bondage." 

On  becoming  president  of  the  executive  council  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Joseph  Heed,  speaking  for  himself  and  the  council, 
renewed  the  recommendation  to  abolish  slavery  gradually  and 
to  restore  and  establish  by  the  law  in  Pennsylvania  the  rights 
of  human  nature.  In  the  autumn  of  1779,  treorge  Bryan  had 
been  returned  as  a  member  of  the  assembly.  In  the  conunit- 
tee  to  which  on  his  motion  the  subject  was  referred,  he  pre- 


;  on.  xxviL 


1780.  THE  IILSE  OF  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  413 

pared  a  now  ])reainl,lo  iiiid  tlio  draft  of  tlio  law  for  gradual 
cinaiicij)atiuii ;  and,  on  tlio  twouty-ninth  of  Fobniury  1780  it 
wiiH  adopted  by  a  vote  of  t]iirty-f.,ur  to  twenty-one.  So  Ponn- 
Hylvauia  led  the  way  toward  introducing  frocdoni  for  all 
"Our  bill,"  wrote  (ieorge  Bryan  to  Samuel  A.lan.H, ''lu^ton- 
ibhoH  and  pleases  the  Quakers.  They  looked  for  no  such  be- 
nevolent 18SU0  of  our  now  government,  exercised  by  I'resbv- 
terians."  •'^ 

The  constitution  of  South  Carolina  of  1778  contained  no 
bill  oi  rights,  and  confined  political  power  oxdusively  to  white 
men ;  from  the  settlement  of  the  state,  slavery  formed  a  i)ri- 
mary  element  in  its  social  organization.  When  Governor  Rut- 
ledge  in  1780  came  to  riiiladoli.liia,  he  reported  that  the  ne- 
groes oilered  up  their  prayers  in  favor  of  England,  in  the 
hope  that  she  would  give  them  a  chance  to  escape  from  slavery. 
But  British  officers,  regarding  negroes  as  valuable  sjxul,  de- 
feated every  plan  for  employing  them  as  soldiers  on  the  side 
of  England.  In  17(!9,  George  III.  in  council  "gave  his  con- 
sent to  an  act  of  (Jeorgia  whereby  slaves  may  be  declared  to 
bo  chattels;"  and  the  war  of  the  revolution  made  no  change 
in  their  condition  by  law. 

The  Puritans  of  J\[assaehusetts  permitted  slavery  by  law 
Negroes  trained  with  the   rest  in  the  ranks,  certaiiily  from 
1051  to  lGr>G.     Cases  occurred  where  laws  on  marriage,  adul- 
tery, and  divorce  wore  applied  to  them;  and  where  they  were 
allowed,  hke  others,  to  give  their  testimony,  even  in  capital 
cases.     Color  was  no  discpiaUfication  to  the  exercise  of  suf- 
frage.   At  the  opening  of  the  revolution  William  Gordon,  the 
Congregationalist  minister  of  Roxbury,  though  he  declined  to 
unsaint"  ova-y  man  who  still  yielded  to  tlie  prevailing  preju- 
dice   declared  with  otliers  against  perpetuating  slavery,  and, 
in  ^ovomber  1770,  published  in  the  "Independent  Chron- 
icle,   a  nowspa])er  in  Boston,  a  plan  sent  from  Connecticut  for 
Its  gradual  extermination  out  of   that  colony.     In   the  same 
month  and  in  the  same  news])aper  "a  Son  of  Liberty"  de- 
manded the  repeal  of  all  laws  supporting  slavery,  because  they 
were  "contrary  to  sound  reason  and  revelation.'"     In  January 
1777,  seven  negro   slaves  joined  in  petitioning  the  general 
court  "Lliut  the-  might  be  restored  to  that  freedom  which  is 


If  11 


i.»  *     «        Hi 


■Ml  If 


AJr'M 


414   AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.iv.;  on.xxvii. 


in, 


•■'llHrM 


II? 


'I'ii  ii 


; 


!i-  ■ 


Die  natural  right  of  all  men,  and  tliat  tlieir  children  might  not 
he  held  ati  slaves  after  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  tweuty-ono 
years."  This  petition  was  referred  to  a  very  able  cojumittee, 
on  which  arc  the  names  of  Sergeant  and  John  Lowell,  both 
zealous  for  the  abolition  of  slavijry ;  and  Lowell  was  then  the 
leading  lawj^n*  in  the  state. 

Ill  May  1777,  just  before  the  meeting  of  the  general  court 
at  Boston,  Gordon,  finding  in  the  nudtiplicity  of  business  its 
only  apology  for  not  having  attended  to  the  case  of  slaves, 
aijked  for  a  final  stop  to  the  jjublic  and  private  sale  of  tlicm  by 
an  act  of  the  state.  Clothing  the  argument  of  Montes(|uieu  iii 
theological  language,  he  said :  "  If  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  I  can 
sec  no  reason  why  a  black  rather  than  a  white  man  should  bo 
a  slave."  A  few  weeks  later  the  first  legislature  elected  in 
Massachusetts  after  the  declaration  of  independence  listened  to 
the  second  reading  of  a  bill  which  declared .  slavery  "  without 
justification  in  a  government  of  which  the  people  are  asserting 
their  natural  rights  to  freedom,"  and  had  for  its  object  "  to  fix 
a  day  on  which  all  persons  above  twenty-one  years  >-f  age  tL.en 
held  in  slavery  should  be  free  and  entitled  to  all  the  rigliLs, 
privileges,  and  immunities  that  be '  jng  to  any  of  the  subjecu 
of  this  state."  A  committee  was  directed  to  take  the  opinion 
of  congress  on  the  subject,  but  no  answer  from  congress  ap- 
pears on  record,  nor  any  further  consideration  of  the  bill  by 
the  Massachusetts  legislature. 

Hancock,  in  his  presidency,  had  sho\vn  proclivities  to  the 
South.  Wlien,  on  his  resignation  in  October,  a  motion  was 
made  to  give  him  the  thanks  of  congress  for  his  impartiality 
in  ofiice,  the  three  northernmost  states  of  Xew  England  voted 
in  the  negative,  while  the  South  was  imanimous  in  his  favor. 
After  his  arrival  in  Boston,  the  two  branches  of  the  general 
court  saw  fit  to  form  themselves  into  a  constituent  convention, 
for  which  some  of  the  towns  had  given  authority  to  their  rep- 
resentatives. In  the  winter  session  of  1778  the  draft  of  a  plan 
of  government  was  considered.  One  of  the  proposed  clauses 
took  from  Indians,  negroes,  and  mulattoes  the  right  to  vote. 
Against  this  disfranchisement  was  cited  the  example  of  Penn- 
sylvania.    "  Should  the  clause  not  be  reprobated  by  the  coa 


1780.  THE  RISE  OF  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  415 

vention,"  said  an  orator,  "  I  still  hope  that  there  will  be  found 
among  the  people  at  large  virtue  enough  to  trample  under 
foot  a  form  of  government  which  thus  saps  the  foundation  of 
civil  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man." 

On  the  submission  of  the  constitution  to  the  people,  obiec- 
tions  were  made  that  it  contained  no  declaration  of  rights; 
that  it  gave  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  seats  in  the 
senate  ;  that  it  disfranchised  the  free  negro,  a  partiality  warmly 
denounced  through  the  press  by  the  historian,  Gordon.  There 
was,  moreover,  dissatisfaction  with  the  legislature  for  having 
assumed  constituent  powers  without  authority  from  the  peoplf 
Boston,  while  it  recommended  a  convention  for  framing  a  con^ 
stitution,  gave  its  vote  unanimously  against  the  work  of  the 
legislature ;  ;uid  the  commonwealth  rejected  it  by  a  vote  of  live 
to  one. 

The  history  of  the  world  contained  no  record  of  a  people 
which  in  the  institution  of  its  government  moved  with  the 
canton  which  marked  the  next  proceedings  of  Massachusetts. 
In  February  1779,  the  legislature  of  the  year  asked  their  con- 
stituents whether  they  desired  a  new  form  of  government ;  and 
a  largo  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  to^vns  voting  in  the 
affirmative,  a  convention  of  delegates  was,  in  conformity  to  a 
law,  elected  for  the  sole  purpose  of  forming  a  constitution. 
On  the  first  day  of  September  the  convention  thus  chosen 
came  together  in  tlie  meeting-house  of  Cambridge.     Their 
f(.refathers,  in  their  zeal  against  the  Roman  superstition,  had 
earned  their  reverence  of  the  Bible  even  to  idolatry  ;  and  some 
of  them,  like  Luther,  found  in  its  letter  a  sanction  for  holding 
slaves.     On  the  other  hand,  from  principle  and  habit,  they 
honored  honest  labor  in  all  its  forms.     The  inconsistencies  of 
bondage  with  the  principle  of  American  independence  lay  in 
the  thouglits  of  those  who  led  public  opinion ;  voices  against  it 
iiad  come  from  Essex,  from  Worcester,  from  Boston,  and  from 
the  western  counties. 

The  first  act  of  the  constituent  body  was  "the  considera- 
tion of  a  declaration  of  rights ; "  and  then  they  resolved  unani- 
mously "that  the  government  to  be  framed  by  this  convention 
for  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay  shall  bo  a  fkee  EEprp^uc." 
This  resolution  was  deemed  so  important  that  liberty  was  ro- 


I ,    " 


*,      'If     ?! 


■y 


:lit, 


416   AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.     Er.  iv. ;  oh.  xxvu. 

served  for  the  members  of  a  committee  wlio  were  absent  to 
record  their  votes  upon  it ;  and  on  the  next  morning  tliey  de- 
clared "  tiicir  full  and  free  assent."  A  committee  of  thirty, 
composed  for  tlie  commonweultli  at  large  and  for  each  county 
excepting  the  unrepresented  counties  of  Dui^ea  and  Nantucket, 
was  appointed  to  prepare  a  declaration  of  rights  and  the  form 
of  a  constitution ;  but  the  house  itself  continued  its  free  con- 
versation on  these  subjects  till  sunset  of  the  sixth  of  Septem- 
ber. The  next  day  it  adjourned  for  more  than  seven  weeks, 
that  its  committee  might  have  time  to  transact  the  important 
business  assigned  them. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  September  the  committee  assembled  at 
the  new  court-house  in  Boston.     Among  them  were  Bowdoin, 
who  was  president  of  tlie  convention  ;  Siinmel  Adams  ;  John 
Lowell ;  Jonathan  Jackson  of  Newbury  port,  who  thought  that 
the  liberty  which  America  achieved  for  itself  should  prevail 
without  limitation  jis  to  color ;  Parsons,  a  young  lawyer  of  the 
greatest  promise,  from  Newburyport;  and  Strong  of  North- 
ampton.    John  Adams  had  arrived  opportunely  from  France, 
to  which  he  did  not  return  till  November,  and  brought  to- 
gether in  iorm  and  order  the  separate  clauses  of  the  constitu- 
tion as  they  came  from  the  convention.     There  are  no  means 
of  distributing  its  parts  to  their  several  authors  witli  certainty. 
No  one  was  more  determined  for  two  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture with  a  veto  in  the  governor  than  John  Adams.    To  him  as 
much  as  to  any  other  may  be  ascribed  the  complete  separation  of 
both  brandies  from  appointments  to  office.     To  Bowdoin  was 
due  the  form  of  some  of  the  sections  which  'were  most  admired. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  October  the 
committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  form  of  government  re- 
ported a  draft  of  a  constitution ;  and  on  the  next  day  the  con- 
vention adopted  tlie  first  article  of  a  declaration  of  rights, 
which  was  couched  almost  in  the  words  of  the  constitution  of 
Virginia :  "  All  men  are  born  free  and  equal,  and  have  certain 
natural,  essential,  and  unalienable  rights,  among  which  may  be 
reckoned  the  right  of  enjoying  and  defending  thoir  lives  and 
liberties ;  that  of  acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  prop- 
erty ;  in  fine,  that  of  seeking  and  obtaining  their  safety  and 
happiness."     The  lawyers  of  Virginia  had  not  considered  this 


IV. ;  on.  xxvu. 


1780.  THE  RISE  OP  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  417 

declaration  as  of  itself  working  the  emancipation  of  neffro 
slaves;  tho  men  of  Massachusetts,  in  deciding  how  many  of 
their  o  d  aws  should  remain  in  full  force,  excepted  those 
parts  whi.'h  were  -  repugnant  to  the  rights  and  liberties  con- 
tained  in  this  constitution." 

As  the  delegates  gave  the  closest  attention  to  every  Une 
and  word  in  the  constitution,  this  clause  did  not  como  up  for 
consideration  till  the  last  day  of  January  1780,  in  an  adiourned 
session.     Eoads  having  been  made  for  a  time  impassable  by 
deep  snows,  there  were  still  many  absentees;  and,  though  a 
quorum  was  present,  the  consideration  of  this  question  waa 
from  Its  importance  deferred.     For  a  month,  therefore,  other 
clauses  were  discussed  and  settled  ;  and  then  in  a  full  conven- 
tion  after  deliberation  and  amendment,  this  most  momentous 
article  of  all  was  adopted.     So  calm  and  effortless  was  the 
act  by  which  slavery  fell  away  from  Massachusetts.     Its  peo- 
ple wrought  with  the  power  of  nature,  without  violence  or 
toil,  achieving  its  ^vi\l  through  the  might  of  overruling  law. 
There  is  m  us  and  around  us  a  force  tending  to  improvement, 
which  we  can  work  with,  but  can  never  destroy.     The  man- 
ner m  which  Massachusetts  left  slavery  behind  was  the  noblest 
that  could  have  been  devised.     The  inborn,  inalienable  right 
of  man  to  freedom  was  written  in  the  permanent  constitution  aa 
the  law  of  all  coming  legislation.     The  highest  voice  of  morali- 
ty speaks  to  the  whole  universe  of  moral  being,  and  utters  for 
all  Its  one  inflexible  command.     Wlien  by  its  all-persuasive  force 
the  men  of  Massachusetts  abolished  slavery,  the  decision  had 
the  character  of  primal  justice  and  the  seal  of  midying  au^aority 
In  an  able  address  to  their  constituents,  the  delegates  ex- 
plained the  grounds  on  which  their  decisions  rested,  and  called 
on  them  m  their  several    tou-ns  and  plantations  to   judge 
whether  they  had  raised  their  superstructure  upon  the  princi- 
ples of  a  FUEE  COMMONWEALTH."     Reassembling  on  the  first 
Wednesday  m  June,  they  fomid  that  the  male  inhabitants  of 
twenty-one  years  .md  upward  had  ratified  the  new  constitution, 
and  they  chose  the  last  Wednesday  iii  October  for  the  time  on 
which  It  should  take  effect. 

At  the  coming  in  of  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  Oetobnr  1780, 
Massachusetts  became  in  truth  a  free  commonwealth.     It^ 


ik 


i    I 


1        'i:|. 


418  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv. ;  on.  xxvii. 


,1" 


1' 


people  shook  slavery  from  its  ^arirumts  as  something  that  had 
never  belonged  to  it.  The  colored  iidiahitants,  about  six  thou- 
sand  in  number,  or  one  in  seventy  of  the  i)opulation,  became 
fellow-citizens;  and,  if  any  of  them  possessed  the  required 
qualifications  of  ago,  residence,  and  jToperty,  their  right  to 
vote  admitted  of  no  question. 

The  law  of  Massachusetts  which  established  slavery  had 
not  eimmerated  birth  as  one  of  its  grounds,  and  many  citizens 
of  the  state  were   accustomed  to  say  that   hereditary  bond- 
age   had  never  existed  in  the  land   by  law.      The  question 
whether  the  new  constitution   hud  surely   abrogated   slavery 
came  before  the  courts  within  less  than  seven  months  after  the 
constitution  was  established.     In  I>arre,  a  town  of  Worcester 
county,  Quaco  Walker,  in  April  17S1,  left  the  service  of  Ka- 
thaniel  Jennison,  his  old  master,  and  found  refuge  and  employ- 
ment with  John  and  Seth  Caldwell.     Jeimison  reclaimed  hiin 
as  a  slave,  beating  him  with  a  stick  and  imprisoning  him  for 
two  hours.     Two  civil  suits  ensued.     Quaco  brought  an  action 
against  Jennison,  his  fonner  master,  for  assault ;  and  Jennison, 
the  master,  brought  an  action  against  the  Caldwells,  who  had 
given  refuge  and  employment  to  the  runaway,  for  depriving 
him  of  (^uaco's  services.     The  civil  suits  were  brought,  iu 
June,  before  the  county  court  of  common  pleas,  Avhose  mem- 
bers were  selected  from  the  justices  of  peace  for  the  county, 
and  so  were  the  natural  exponents  of  the  feeling  and  judg- 
ment of  the  land.     Not  one  of  thorn  was  a  lawyer.    Moses 
Gill,  the   chief  justice,  was  brought  up  to  be  a  shopkeeper, 
and  had  been  one ;  Samuel  Baker,  one  of  the  associates,  was 
a  farmer  in  Berlin;   Joseph  D-rr,  the  other,  v>'as  a  farmer 
in  Mendon,  and  in  the  late  state    convention  had  served  on 
the  committee   for  framing   the  bill  of  rights.     In  the  first 
case  the  verdict  of  the  jury  declared  the  negro  to  be  a  free- 
man,  and   assessed  the  damages  which  he  had  sustained  at 
fifty  pounds.      An  appeal  to  the  supreme  judicial  court  of 
the   commonwealth   was    taken.      In   the   suit  of   Jennison 
against  the  Caldwells,  Jennison  obtained  a  verdict  in  his  favor, 
and  a  judgment  for  twenty-five  pounds.     The  Caldwells  ap- 
pealed  to   the  supreme  judicial  court,  which  was  to  hold  a 
term  at  Worcester  in  the  following  September.     Tho  judg-S 


^t^ 


WW" 


V. ;  on.  XXVII, 


178l-l7<^3.     THE   RISE  OF  FREE   CCMMONWEALTIIS.  419 

of  the  dui)rcMne  court,  wlio  were  proson:  at  Worcester  in  Sep- 
tembcr  ITSl,  tuul  heard   the  appeal  of  the  CaMwells,  were 
Jaiuos  Sullivan,  Nathaniel  Peaslee  Sargeaiit,  and  David  Sewall, 
every  one  of  whom   liad  been  members  of  the  convention 
which  framed  tlie  constitution  of  Massacluisetts  ;  and  Sullivan, 
who  was  a  man  of  superior  al)ility  and  '^lai-acter,  and  Sewall] 
had  been  on  the  committee  which  framed  the  declaration  of 
rights.     The  Caldwells  had  engaged  for  their  counsel  Caleb 
Strong  of  Northampton  and   Levi  Lincoln  of  Worcester,  of 
whom  both  had  been  members  of  the  state  convention,  and 
Strong  had  been  one  of  the  committee  for  framing  the  bill  of 
rights.     They  argued  that  Jennison  could  have  no  claim  to 
the  labor  of  Quaeo  Walker,  because  by  the  new  constitution 
he  was  certainly  a  free  man,  owing  compulsory  labor  to  no 
one ;  that  laws  of  the  state  which  derogate  from  the  rights 
recognised  by  the  common  law  are  to  be  strictly  constnied ; 
and  that  a  law  upholding  slavery  is  contrary  to  the  constitu- 
tioii  of  Massachusetts  as  well  as  to  the  laws  of  nature.*     The 
decision  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  was  reversed  by  tli,; 
supreme  judicial  court,  and  the  reversal  was  founded  on  the 
clause  of  the  constitution  that  "all  men  are  born  free  and 
equal."     This  was  the  first  action  involving  the   right   of 
the  master  which  came  before  the  supremo  judicial  court  of 
]\rassachusetts   after  the  establishment    of    the  constitution, 
and  the  judges  declared,  as  their  successors  have  unifonnly 
reaffii-med,  that,  by  virtue  of  the  iust  article  of  the  declaration 
of  rights,  slavery  in  Massachusetts  became  extinct. 

But  another  danger  opened  upon  tlie  would-be  slave-holder 
at  this  session  of  the  supreme  court  in  September  1781 ;  on 
the  presentment  of  the  grand  jury  of  the  county  of  Worces- 
ter, Jennison  was  indicted  for  beating  and  imprisoning  Quaeo 
Walker  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  commonwealth. 
Jennison,  in  Juno  1782,  laid  his  griefs  before  the  legislature  of 
.Alassachusetts.  He  received  little  comfort  at  their  hands,  for 
tlie  first  principle  on  which  the  house  of  representatives,  in  its 
later  session,  ordered  a  bill  to  be  brought  in  for  the  relief  of 
the  old  slaveJiolders  was  a  declaration  that  "  there  never  were 
legal  slaves  in  this  government."  A  bill  on  that  principle,  and 
*  Lincoln's  brief  in  Mass.  Uist.  Soc.  Proceedings  for  May  18B7,  p.  198. 


I    'i 


Hi-fi 


•I' 


-I 


t 


II 


,/*S5**C' 


ijf^ 


I       ! 


420  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  oh.  xxvn, 

yet  as  a  matter  of  expediency  oSeving  some  indemnity  to  those 
masters  who  had  held  slaves,  passed  the  house,  but  in  the  senate 
was  only  read  once. 

In  the  month  of  April  1783,  the  indictment  of  Jennison, 
presented  by  the  grand  jury  of  Massachusetts,  was  brought  to 
trial  before  the  supreme  court  of  the  commonwealth.    William 
Gushing,  the  chief  justice,  afterwards  for  many  years  an  asso- 
ciate justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  presided 
at  the  trial,  with  Sargeant,  Sewall,  and  Increase  Sumner  as  his 
associates.    They  all,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine,  the  attorney- 
general  who  had  prepared   the  indictment,  had  been  mem- 
bers of  the  convention  which   framed   the  constitution,  and 
Gushing  and  Sewall  and  the  attorney -general  had  been  of 
the  committee  which  framed  the  declaration  of  rights.     In 
submitting  the  ".ase  to  the  jury,  the  charge  of  tlie  chief  jus- 
tice was:  "As    to   the   doctrine  of  slavery  and  the  right  of 
Ghristians  to  hold  Africans  in  perpetual  servitude,  whatever 
sentiments  have  formerly  prevailed  in  this  particular,  or  slid 
in  upon  us  by  the  example  of  others,  a  different  idea  has  taken 
place  with  the  people  of  America  more  favorable  to  the  natural 
rights  of  mankind,  and  to  that  natural  innate  desire  of  liberty 
with  which  heaven,  without  regard  to  color,  complexion,  or 
shape  of  features,  has  insjiired  all  the  human  race.     And  upon 
this  ground  our  constitution  of  government,  by  which   the 
people  of  this  commonwealth  have  solemnly  bound  themselves, 
sets  out  with  declaring  that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal, 
and  that  every  subject  is  CTititled  to  liberty,  and  to  have  it 
guarded  by  the  laws,  as  well  as  life  and  pi'operty — and,  in  short, 
is  totally  repugnant  to  the  idea  of  being  born  slaves.     This 
being  the  case,  I  think  the  idea  of  slavery  is  inconsistent  with 
our  own  conduct  and  constitution ;  and  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  az  perj)etual  servitude  of  a  rational  creature,  unless  his 
liberty  is  forfeited  by  some  criminal  conduct  or  given  up  by 
personal  consent  or  contract."  * 

The  jury  upon  their  oath  did  say  that  Nathaniel  Jennison 

*  The  case  of  Nathaniel  ifcnnison  for  attornptinfi  to  hold  a  negro  as  a  slave 
in  Massachusetts  in  1781,  from  the  minutes  of  Chief  Justice  Cualiing,  with  a  note 
by  Horace  (Jriiy,  then  chief  justice  of  Massachusetts,  iu  the  I'rocecdings  of  the 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  lor  April,  1874. 


v.;  OH.  xxTn. 


1780.  TEE  RISE  OF  FREE  COMMONWEALTHS.  42I 

was  giiilty,  and  the  court  ordered  liim  to  pay  a  lino  of  forty 
shillings  and  cost  of  i)rosecution. 

As  to  the  rights  of  conscience,  it  was  agreed  that  "  relio-ion 
must  at  all  times  be  a  matter  between  God  and  individuals  •  " 
yet  all  were  excluded  from  office  who  believed  that  a  forei'^n 
prelate  could  have  a  dispensing  power  within  the  common- 
wealth, and  who  would  not  '•  disclaim  those  principles  of  s.)irit- 
ual  jurisdiction  which  are  suhveivive  of  a  free  government 
established  by  the  people."  The  legislature  and  magistrates 
were  charged  to  cherish  literature  and  the  sciences,  \and  all 
scmmari...  of  them,  especially  the  university  at  Cambridge 
public  sciiools,  and  grammar  schools  in  the  towns  The  con' 
Btitution  was  marked  by  the  effort  at  a  complete  separation  of 
the  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  powers,  that  it  mi-ht 
be  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men.  "  For  a  power  wHli- 
oiit  any  resti-aint,"  said  the  convention,  "  is  tyranny." 

"  The  constitution  of  Massachusetts,"  wrote  Count  ^ifatthieu 
Dumas,  one  of  the  French  officers  who  served  in  i\merica 
"  IS  perhaps  the  code  of  laws  which  does  most  honor  to  man  "' 
As  if  to  leave  to  the  world  a  record  of  the  contrast  bet-veen 
tlio  contending  systems  of  govermnent  for  colonists,  the  British 
ministry,  simultaneously  ^vith  the  people  of  I\rassachusetts, 
engaged  m  forming  its  model.     The  part  of  Massachusetts 
between  the  liver  Saco  and  the  St.  Croix  was  constituted  a 
province,   under   the   name   of    New   Ireland.      The  system 
adopted  for  Quebec  and  for  East  Florida  was  to  receive  in  the 
Now  England  province  its  full  development.     The  marked 
feature  of  the  constitution  was  the  absolute  power  of  the  Brit- 
ish parliament;  and,  to  make  this  power  secure  for  all  coming 
time,  every  landlord  on  acrpiiring  land,  whether  by  grant  from 
tlui  crown,  or  by  purchase,  or  by  inheritance,  w'as  bound  to 
make  a  test  declaration  of  allegiance  to  the  king  in  his  parlia- 
ment, as  the  supreme   legislature  of  the  province.     The  at- 
torney and  solicitor  g(meral  of  Great  Britain  were  to  report 
^vllat  of  the  laws  of  England  would  of  their  own  authority  .ako 
cttoct  in  the  province,  and  what  acts  of  pariianient  the  kincr 
miglit  introduce  l)y  his  proclamation.     "  It  has  l)een  found," 
^aid  the  state  iiaiier,  "  by  sad  experience,  that  the  dpinocrntic 
power  is  predominant  in  all  parts  of  British  America. 


i( 


To 


,  ■  ,h 


■• 


I 


422  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kp.  iv.  ;  ch.  xxvil 

combat  the  prevailing  disposition  of  the  people  to  republican- 
ism,"  there  was  to  be  by  the  side  of  the  governor  and  council 
no  elective  assembly  until  the  circumstances  of  the  province 
should  admit  of  it;  but  a  middle  branch  of  legislature,  of 
which  every  one  of  the  meuibors  was  to  bo  named  by  the 
crown ;  to  be  distinguished  by  titles  or  emoluments  or  botli ; 
and,  though  otherwise  appointed  for  life,  to  remain  ever  liable 
to  be  suspended  or  removed  by  royal  authority. 

Tlie  lands  were  to  be  granted  in  large  tracts,  so  that  theru 
might  bo  great  landlords  and  a  tenantry.  The  church  of  En-T- 
land  was  to  bo  the  established  church ;  the  country  to  be  di- 
vided into  parishes,  each  with  a  glebe  land ;  and  the  gover- 
nor, the  highest  judge  in  the  ecclesiastical  court,  to  present  to 
all  benefices.  A  vicar-gcueral  with  a  power  to  ordain  was  to 
open  the  way  for  a  bishop.  No  provision  was  made  for 
schools  or  the  education  of  the  people.  This  constitution  was 
a2)proved  by  the  cabinet  on  the  tenth  of  August  1780,  and  -u 
the  next  day  by  the  hing. 

Here  wore  the  two  models  side  by  side.  The  one  would 
have  organized  self-government,  the  other  arbitrary  rule  ;  the 
one  a  people  of  freeholders,  the  other  of  landlords  and  tenants  ; 
the  one  public  worsliip  according  to  the  conscience  and  faith 
of  individuals,  tlie  other  a  state  reUgion  subordinate  to  temporal 
power ;  the  one  education  of  all  the  people,  the  other  indiiler- 
once  to  their  culture. 

It  remains  to  be  related  tliat  in  April  of  the  year  1780  the 
Methodists  of  the  United  States,  at  their  eighth  conference, 
voted  "  slave-keeping  hurtful  to  society  and  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  God,  man,  and  natui'e." 


I 


IV.;  CH.  xxviL 


3780. 


THE   COMPLOT  OF  0LINTOx>f  AND  AKxNOLD. 


423 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

TUK   COMI>LOT   OF   SIR   HENRY   CLINTON   ANB   AENOLD. 

1780. 

•  ^P^^^.^'™f  ^/^^^^'"onts  of  the  British  and  American  troops 
mthe  Nortli  during  tlie  winter  of  1780  were  baffled  by  un- 
wonted cold  and  deep  snows.  The  IIudHon  and  the  Ea.st 
river  were  covered  with  solid  ice,  but  Knyphausen  provided 
for  the  safety  of  i\ew  York  by  forming  battalions  of  the  loyal 
mhabitants  and  refugees.  In  May  the  continental  troops  be- 
ween  the  Chesapeake  and  Canada  amounted  only  to  seven 
thousand  men  ;  in  the  first  week  of  June,  those  under  the  com- 
mand of  Washington,  present  and  fit  for  duty,  numbered  but 
tliree  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty,  and  these  congress 
could  neither  pay  nor  supply  with  food. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  May  the  official  report  of  the  surren- 
der of  Charleston  was  received.  The  refugees  insisted  that  the 
men  ot  New  Jersey,  weary  of  compulsory  recpiisitions  of  sup- 
plies, longed  to  return  to  their  old  form  of  government  •  and 
English  generals  reported  so  great  disaffection  among  the  starved 
ami  half-clothed  American  officers  and  men  that  one  half  of 
them  would  desert  to  the  English  and  the  other  half  disperse. 
1  he  moment  seemed  opportune  for  setting  up  tlio  royal  stand- 
ard in  New  Jei-sey.  Strengthening  the  post  at  Ki-ig's  J3rido-e, 
and  leaving  only  throe  regiments  in  New  York,  Knyphaus^'en 
formed  nineteen  regiments  into  three  divisions  .-  :der  Robeit- 
pon,  Tryon,  and  Stachenberg,  with  an  advanced  guard  under 
General  Matthews.     Of  artillery  he  took  eight  pieces. 

The  army  of  Washington  was  encamped  at  Jforristown. 
On  the  east  of  the  Passaic,  the  Jersey  brigade  under  GeneraJ 


V  (.4 


IJi   II 


i^ 


424  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  on.  xxvm. 

Jraxwcll  was  stationed  at  Couneeticut  Farms,  and  three  hun- 
dred of  the  Jersey  militia  occupied  Elizabethtown.     On  the 
sixth   of  June  tlie   British   landed   at  Elizabethtown   Point. 
The  brigadier  who  commanded  the  vanguard  was  early  wound- 
ed and  disabled.     Seven  hours  were  lost  in  bridgiuir  a  marsli 
which  stopped  their  way.     On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  the 
American  militia,  under  Colonel  Dayton,  having  had  timely 
warning,  retired  from  Elizabethtown ;  but,  with  tlie  aid  of  the 
country   people  who   flew   to  arms,  and   of   small  patrolling 
parties   of  continental   troops,   they  harassed   the  British  all 
the  way  on  their  march  of  five  or  six  miles  to  Coimectieut 
Farms.     James  Caldwell,  the   Presbyterian   minister  of   that 
place,  was  known  to  have  ins))ired  his  people  with  his  own 
patriotic  zeal.      A  British  solilier  fired  through  the  window 
of  the  room   where   Caldwell's   wife    was  sitting  with  her 
children,  one  of  them  a  nursling,  and  shot  her  fatally  tlirough 
the  breast.     Scarcely  was  time  allowed  to  remove  the  children 
and  the  corpse  from  the  house  when  it  was  set  on  fire.     The 
Presbyterian  church  and  the  houses  and  barns  of  the  vHlago 
were  burnt  down.     In  the  winter  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
Newark  had  been  destroyed  in  the  same  way. 

^  From  Connecticut  Farms,  IMaxwell,  with  a  i-emnant  of  a 
brigade,  retreated  to  strong  ground  near  Sj^ringfield,  where  he 
awaited  and  repelled  repeated  attacks  made  by  Cohuiel  Wurmb 
with  a  Hessian  regiment  which  lost  more  than  fifty  killed  or 
wounded.     An  English  brigade  which  arrived  found  A7ash- 
ington  and  his  army  formed  in  front  of  them  on  ground  of 
his  own  choice.     Ivnypluiuscn,  though  his  army  outnumbered 
the  Americans  two  to  one,  declined  to  attack;   and  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  he  began  a  retreat  to  Elizabethtown 
Point.     An  American  detachment,  sent  at  break  of  day  in 
pursuit,  drove  the  twenty-second  English  regiment  out  of  Eliza- 
bethtown and  returned  without  bebig  miilested.      The  com- 
mander-in-chief, in  general  orders,  commended  the  comluct  of 
all  who  took  part  in  resisting  Knyphausen,  and  said  :  "  Colonel 
Dayton  merits  particular  thanks.'' 

At  this  time  a  committee  from  congress  was  in  tlie  Ameri- 
can camp,  to  whom  Washington  exj  ^lined  the  hardships  of  his 
condition,    Couirress  had  acpomnlish'^d  n'><-1'i""-  f^r  +1-"  relief 


V. ;  OH.  xxvm. 


1780.        THE  COMPLOT  OF  CLINTON  AND  ARNOLD.  425 

or  reinforcement  of  his  army,  and  could  not  tell  how  far  the 
several  states  would  comply  with  the  xoquisitions  made  on  thcra. 
While  awarding  liberal  praise  to  the  militia  of  New  Jersey, 
Washington  renewed  to  the  committee  his  constant  plea  for 
regular  troops :  "  Perseverance  in  enduring  the  rigors  of  mili- 
tary service  is  not  to  be  expected  from  those  who  are  not  by 
profession  obliged  to  it.  Our  force,  from  your  own  obseiwa- 
tion,  is  totally  inadequate  to  our  safety." 

On  the  nineteenth  of  June,  two  days  after  his  return  to  New 
York,  Clinton  repaired  to  New  Jersey.  He  had  at  his  disposi- 
tion nearly  four  times  as  many  regular  troops  as  were  opposed 
to  him  ;  but  he  fretted  at  "  the  move  in  Jersey  as  premature  " 
and  what  he  "  least  expected."  With  civil  words  to  the  Ger- 
man officers,  he  resolved  to  give  up  the  expedition ;  but  he  chose 
to  mask  his  retreat  under  the  form  of  a  military  manoeuvre. 

Troops  sent  up  the  Hudson  river,  as  if  to  take  the  Ameri- 
cans iu  the  rear,  induced  Washington  to  move  his  camp  to 
Eockaway  bridge,  confiding  the  post  at  Short  Tlills  to  two  bri- 
gades under  the  command  of  Greene.     Early  on  the  twenty- 
third  the   British  advanced  in  two  compact   divisions  from 
Ehzabethtown  Point  to  Springfield.     The  column  on  the  right 
had  to  ford  the  river  before  they  could  drive  Major  Lee  from 
one  of  tlie  bridges  over  the  Passaic.     At  the  other.  Colonel 
Angel  with  his  regiment  held  the  left  column  in  check  for  about 
forty  minutes.     Greene  prepared  for  action ;  but  the  British 
chief,  though  his  army  was   drawn   up   and  began   a  heavy 
cannonade,  had  no  design  to  give  battle;  and  at  four  in  the 
afternoon,  after  burning  the  houses  in  Springfield,  ordered  its 
rcturn.^    All  the  way  back  to  Ehzabethtown  it  was  annoyed 
l)y  an  incessant  fire  from  American  skirmishers  and  militia. 
Its  total  loss  is  not  known  ;  once  more  the  Hessian  yagers  lost 
fifty  in  killed  or  wounded,  among  the  latter  one  colonel,  two 
captains,   and   a   lieutenant.      From  Elizabethtown   Point  it 
crossed  to  Staton  Island  by  abridge  of  boats,  which  at  midnight 
was  taken  away.     Clinton  was  never  again  to  have  so  good  an 
opportunity  for  offensive  operations  as  that  which  he  then  re- 
jected. 

^  On  the  return  of  d'Estaing  to  Franco,  he  urged  the  French 
inmistry  to  send  twelve  thousand  men  to  the  United  States,  as 


11  iiiiii 


'iii 


I 


H 


426  AMERK  .1  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP.  IV. ;  on.  xxviii. 


J         I 


all 


'1  P 


the  best  Wcay  of  pursuing  the  w-ar ;  and  Lafayette  liad  given 
the   like  advice  to  Yergennes,  witli   whoui  he  had  formed 
relations   of    friendship.      The    cabinet    adopted   the  meas- 
ure in  its  principle,  but  vacillated  as  to  the  number  of  the 
French  contingent.     For  the  command,  Count  de  Rochambeau 
was  selected,  not  by  court  favor,  but  from  the  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  in  the  French  army.     On  the  tenth  of  July,  Ad- 
miral de  Ternoy  with  a  squadron  of  ten  ships-of-war,  three  of 
them  ships  of  the  line,  convoyed  the  detachment  of  about  six 
thousand  men  with  Rochambeau  into  the  harbor  of  Newport. 
To  an  address  from  the  general  assembly  of  Rliode   Islan  ', 
then  sitting  in  Newport,  the  count  answered :  "  The  French 
troops  are  restrained  by  the  strictest  discipline;  and,  acting 
under  General  Washington,  will  live  with  the  Americans  as 
their  brethren.     I  assure  the  general  assembly  that,  as  brethren, 
aot  only  my  life,  but  the  lives  of  the  troops  under  my  com- 
mand, are  entirely  devoted  to  their  service."     AVashington  in 
2;enci-il  orders  desired  the  American  officers  to  wear  white  and 
black  cockades  as  a  symbol  of  affection  for  their  allies. 

The  British  fleet  at  New  York  having  received  a  large  rc- 
hiforcement,  so  that  it  had  now  a  great  superiority.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  embarked  about  eight  thousand  men  for  an  exiicdition 
to  Rhode  Island.  Supported  by  militia  from  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut,  the  French  longed  for  the  threatened  attack  ; 
but  the  expedition  proceeded  no  farther  than  Huntington  bay 
in  Long  Island,  where  it  idled  away  several  days,  and  then  re- 
turned to  New  York.  Of  the  incapacity  of  Arbuthnot,  the 
admiral,  Clinton  sent  home  bitter  complaints,  which  were  Httle 
heeded,  for  he  was  himself  tlioiight  unequal  to  his  position. 
The  sixth  summer  during  which  the  British  had  vainly  en- 
deavored to  rechice  the  United  States  was  passing  away,  and 
after  the  arrival  of  French  auxiliaries  the  British  commander- 
in-chief  was  more  than  ever  disheartened. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  August,  Clinton,  knowing  well  that 
he  had  in  Cornwallis  a  favored  rival  eager  to  supplant  him, 
reported  officially  from  New  York :  "  At  this  new  epoch  in 
the  war.  Avhen  a  foreign  force  has  landed  and  an  addition  to 
it  is  (jxpected,  I  owe  to  my  country,  and  I  must  in  justice  to 
my  o^A'i.  fame  deeliire,  that  I  become  every  day  more  sensiblo 


IV. ;  OH.  xxviu. 


1780.        TUE  OOMPLOT  OF  CLINTON  AND  ARNOLD  40.. 

of  the  utter  impossibllitj  of  prosecuting  tlio  war  in  tins  eoun- 
fry  without  rcnnforecnents.     The  revoh.tions  fondly  looked  for 
by  means  of  fnetids  t„  the  British  govermnent  I  Lu  repre- 
.-  f  us  visioiKuy.    The  accession  of  friends,  without  we  occupy 
he  country  they  n.hahit,  is  but  the  addition  of  unhappy  oJL 
o  the  hst  of  pensioned  refugees.     A  glance  at  the  riuu^s  of 
the  army  divided  mto  garrisons  and  reduced  by  casuahies  on 
ll.o  one  part  with  the  consideration  of  tlie  task  yet  before  us 
on  the  other,  would  renew  tlie  too  just  reflection  that  we  are 
l.y  some  thousands  too  weak  to  subdue  this  formidable  rebel- 
hon        Yc    for  the  moment  the  only  regiments  sent   to  tJ.e 
l-nit(>d  btates  were  three  to  reinforce  Lord  Cornwallis 

Hopeless  of  success  in  honorable  warfare,  Clinton'  stooped 
to  fraud  and  corruption.     While  Arnold  held  the  command 
in   r  hiludelphia,  his  extravagant  mode  of  living  tempted  '  im 
0  peculation  and  treasonable  connections.     In  the  cours.  of 
Ik.  winter  of  1778  to  1779  he  was  taken  into  the  pay  of  Clin- 
ton, to  whom  he  gave  intelligence  on  every  occasion;  and 
ov.ard  the  end  of  February  1779  he  let  it  be  known  t^  the 
I  .•it.sh  commander-in-chief  that  he  was  desirous  of  exclumo-ing 
the  American  service  for  that  of  Great  Britain.     Jlis  open 
pre  erence  for  the  friends  of  the  English  in  Pennsylvania  dis- 
gns  ed  the  patriots.     The  council  of  that  state,  after  beariu<. 
with  him  for  more  than  half  a  year,  very  justly  dc.sired  hi^ 
removal  from  the  command;  and,  having  early  in  1779  given 
information  of  his  cond.ict,  against  their  intention  they  became 
his  accusers.    The  court-martial,  before  which  he  was  arraigned 
on  charges  that  touched  his  honor  and  integrity,  dealt  with 
iaui  leniently,  and  sentenced  him  only  to  be  re,n-imanded  by 
the  commander-in-chief.    The  reprimand  was  marked  with  the 
greatest  forbearance.     The  French  minister,  to  whom  Arnold 
apphcd  for  money,  put  aside  his  request  and  added  wise  and 
rnendly  advice. 

The  plot  received  the  warmest  encouragement  from  Lord 
(^eorge  Gei-main,  who,  toward  the  end  of  Sei^tembcr  1779 
^vrote  to  Clinton :  "Next  to  the  destruction  of  Washino-ton's 
'iriuy,  the  gaining  over  officers  of  influence  and  reputation 
imioug  the  troops  would  be  the  speediest  means  of  subduin:/ 
restoring  the  i 


VOL.  V. — 29 


iquillity  of  America.     Youi 


^m 


iyM 


■  li 


'  I.  u 


m 


<i    it. I 


428  AMERICA  IN   \LLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  en.  xxviii. 

commission  authorizes  you  to  avail  yourself  of  such  opportu  ,i. 
ties,  and  the  expense  will  be  cheerfully  submitted  to." 

In  1780  the  command  at  West  Point  needed  to  be  changed. 
Acting  in  concert  with  the  British  general  and  supported  l)y 
the  New  York  delegation  in  congress,  Arnold,  pleading  his 
wounds  as  an  excuse  for  declining  active  service,  solicited  and 
obtained  orders  to  that  post  which  included  all  the  American 
forts  in  the  Highlands.  Sir  Henry  Clinton  entered  with  all 
his  soul  into  the  ignoble  plot.  A  correspondeuce  of  two 
months  ensued  between  him  and  Arnold,  through  Major 
John  Andre,  adjutant-general  of  the  anny  in  North  America. 
On  the  thirtieth  of  August,  Arnold,  insisting  that  the  advan- 
tages which  he  expected  to  gain  for  himself  by  his  surrender 
were  "by  no  means  unreasonable"  and  requiring  that  his 
conditions  should  "be  clearly  imderstood,"  laid  a  plan  for  an 
interview  at  which  a  person  "  fully  authorized  "  was  to  "  close 
with  "  his  proposals, 

The  rendezvous  was  given  by  him  within  the  American 
lines,  where  Colonel  Sheldon  held  the  command;  and  that 
officer  was  instructed  to  expect  the  arrival  "  at  his  quarters  of 
a  person  in  New  York  to  open  a  channel  of  intelligence."  On 
the  same  day  Andre,  disguising  his  name,  wrote  to  Sheldon 
from  New  York,  by  ordor  of  Clinton :  "  A  flag  will  be  sent  to 
Dobb's  Ferry  on  Monday  next,  the  eleventh,  at  twelve  o'clock. 
Let  me  entreat  you,  sir,  to  favor  a  matter  which  is  of  so  pri- 
vate a  naturr  that  the  public  on  neither  side  can  be  injured  ])y 
it.  I  trust  I  shall  not  be  detained,  but  I  would  rather  risk  that 
than  neglect  the  business  in  question,  or  assume  a  mysterious 
character  to  carry  on  an  innocent  affair  and  get  to  your  lines 
by  stealth."  To  this  degree  did  the  British  commander-in- 
chief  prostitute  his  word  and  a  flag  of  truce.  The  letter  of 
Andre  being  forwarded  to  Arnold,  he  "  determined  to  go  as 
far  as  Dobb's  Ferry  and  meet  the  flag."  As  he  was  approach- 
ing the  vessel  in  which  Andr6  came  up  the  river,  the  British 
guard-boats,  whose  officers  were  not  in  the  secret,  fired  upon 
his  barge  and  prevented  the  interview. 

Clinton  became  more  eager  in  the  project,  for  of  a  sudden 
he  gained  an  illustrious  assistant.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  between  France  and  Englutid,  Sir  George  Rodney,  a  Brit 


\^:-tV 


y. ;  en.  xxviii. 


ireo. 


THE  COMPLOT  OF  CLINTON  AND  AP.NOLD. 


429 

fch  naval  officer,  cl,anccd  t.  bo  dotamcd  in  Paris  by  dobf 

but  tbo  aged  Ma,.hal  de  Biron  advanced  Mm  „,o„  v  t„t  t' 

nm.e1f  free  and  l>o  bastened  to  England  to  a.k  on,,!™,  „t  „ 

the  kmg.    Ho  was  devoted  to  no  political  party ;  I J  reVe  onced 

g^oat  in  power  of  e.ei,ti;n,t.o  ™  tt^VCf  :t„1 
wjse  govommcnt  wonld  employ,  and  whom  by  Inel  t  ,o  Br  tlh 

--..is^eet  i  X.:a:."srsr -L:r :: 

on  the  twentv-nintb  of  December  1779      On  1 1  i  .^      . 

.--na;7  .780,  „„  captnn^d  scve;;"I  of  v    '  1  Jfl   J^ 

<•  ,0  St'T;;^'"';'r«  '"'■  ^""^  ^"'^"'""  >-  e„co„nto"d  s 
( ..po  fct  Vmeent  the  Spanish  squadron  of  Langnara  very  in 

fenor  to  us  own,  and  easily  took  or  destroyed  a  .^reLt  Zt^f 
.t     Havn,gyctualled  the  garrison  of  Gibraltar  a,  droned 

slvTno.     "  r     f    f     ^""'■'  ''°  """'"'"'  '«"«■■=  fr°»l  hi^*  wife 
«.  mg    "Everybody  is  beyond  measure  delighted  as  well  ^ 

.*.n,sl,ed  at  your  success;"  from  bis  daugl,to°:  "Z^lZ 
almos    adores  you,  and  every  mouth  is  fSll  of  you    pS 
ome  back  when  you  have  done  soma  more  thi^glinthlTZi 
of  the  world  you  are  in  now "  °  ^ 

encounter  with  fb"'  "tefof  Id X  ZeCtl 

men  thanked  him  onco  more.     Yet  he  did  not  obtain  a  do- 

<led  supenontyin  the  ATost  Indian  seas,  and  he  reported t 

the  admiralty  as  the  reason,  that  his  flag  hid  not  been  nronerlv 

supported  by  some  of  his  officers.  '^    ^    '^ 

or  d^ovlf A™"°  '"  ™""'f'  "S'"''  ^^  ^''"*  '■■«»'-  'o  «'=i^o 
reeeivodff  t  r"™"  ™'*''  '"  ^'-  ^"='»«"«-    I"  J™'^  he 

"'''^  ""*  the  French,    But  the  two  ^dmirah  could  not 
aroehow  thoirforoos  should  be  employed.    Contgbuffe™ 


if  mm 


.<|||^ 


HI 


i?,()  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.  tv. ;  on,  xxvm. 


m 


I  fi 


I 


attacked  the  Spaniards,  and  reached  the  French.  Solano  ro- 
tumed  to  Havana;  (iiiichcn,  whose  squadron  was  anxiou.sly 
awaited  in  the  North,  sailed  for  France.  IJodney  alone,  passhif 
to  the  north  and  recapturing  a  slii])  from  Charleston,  anchored 
off  Sandy  Hook,  where  he  vexed  the  weak  Admiral  Arbiithnot 
by  taking  comniand  of  the  station  of  New  York  during  hi.s 
short  stay.  To  the  superiority  of  tlie  British  on  land  was 
now  added  the  undisputed  dominion  of  the  water.  In  aid  of 
the  entei-prise  by  which  Sir  Henry  Clinton  expected  to  bring 
tlic  war  to  an  immediate  close,  Rodney  contributed  his  own 
rare  powers;  and  harmony  prevailed  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  service. 

On  tlie  eighteenth  of  Septeml)er,  AVashington  crossed  tlie 
North  river  on  his  way  from  head-quarters  netir  Tappau  to 
Hartford,  Avhere,  attended  by  Lafayette  and  Hamilton,  he  was 
to  hold  his  first  interview  M'itli  General  Hochambeau.  He  was 
joined  on  the  river  by  Arnold,  who  accompanied  him  as  far  as 
Peekskill,  and  endeavored,  though  in  vain,  to  obtain  his  con- 
sent for  the  reception  of  an  agent  on  pretended  business  relat- 
ing to  confiscntod  property. 

Time  pressed  on.  Besides,  Sir  George  Rodney  had  only 
looked  in  upon  New  York,  and  would  soon  i'cturn  to  the  AVest 
Indies.  On  the  evening  of  the  eighteenth,  Arnold,  giving  in- 
formation that  Wasliington  on  tlie  following  Saturday  nir!;lit 
was  expected  to  be  his  guest  at  West  Point,  proposed  that 
Andre  should  immediately  come  up  to  the  Vulture  ship-of- 
war,  which  rode  at  anchor  just  above  Teller's  Point  in  Haver- 
straw  bay,  promising  on  Wednesday  evening  "  to  send  a  per- 
son on  board  with  a  boat  and  a  llig  of  truce." 

This  letter  of  Arnold  reached  Clinton  on  Tuesday  evening, 
and  he  took  his  measures  without  delay.  Troops  were  em- 
barked on  the  Hudson  river  under  tlio  superintendence  of 
Sir  George  Rodney,  and  tlie  embarkation  disguised  by  a  ru- 
mor of  an  intended  expedition  into  the  Chesapeake. 

On  the  morning  of  the  twentieth  the  British  adjutant- 
general  prepared  to  carry  out  his  orders.  To  diminish  the 
dangers  to  which  the  service  ex]^)ose(l  him,  "the  commander- 
in-chief,  before  his  departure,  cautioned  Iiim  not  to  change  his 
dress,  and  not  to  take  papers."     At  Dobb's  Ferry  he  em- 


V. ;  on.  xxvni. 


1780.        THE   COMPLOT  OF  CLINTON   AND  ARNOLD.  431 

barked  ott  the  river,  and,  as  the  tide  was  favorable,  readied 

captam  that  he  wa;,  ready  to  attend  (ieueral  Arnold's  sum- 
mens  when  and  where  he  pleased." 

;'The  night  tl,e  Hag  was  first  expected  he  e.«,ressed  much 
an..et,-  for  ,ts  arrival,"  and,  as  it  did  not  eome,  on  the  morning 

he  was  On  the  ensiung  night  Arnold  sent  Joshna  Ileth 
Sini  li,  m  a  boat  with  muffled  oars,  ofl  from  the  western  sWo 
of  the  Hudson  to  the  Vulture.  "  The  instant  Ai.drC-  lea 3 
that  he  was  wanted,  he  started  out  of  bed  and  discovc  ed  t^e 
groates  impatience  to  he  gone.  Nor  did  he  in  a.^/  nstait 
betiy  ho  least  donbt  of  his  safctv  and  sueeess."  i  Z^ 
whieh  had  jnst  p.assed  into  the  third  quarter,  shone  in  a  eS 

:1"  nil  K  '  r"\V°^  "-^  Uu,i.g.,uL  „,,,  the  upp^ 
edge  of  the  Ilavei-straw  Mountains.  It  was  very  near  the  Ume 
for  day  tj>  appear,  when  Andre,  dre.ssed  in  regimentals  w  lioh 
a  la^c  b  „e  eloak  couoealed,  landed  at  the  point  of  the  W 
C  ove,  „  here  Arnold  was  waiting  in  the  bushes  to  receive  hiiir 
The  genera  h.ad  brought  with  l,h„  a  spare  horso;  and  the  two 
ode  through  the  village  of  Ilaverstraw  within    ho  AmerieTn 

I  ver     At  the  dawn  of  day  the  noise  of  artillery  was  heard 

.m  American  party  had  brought  held-pieces  to  bear  on  the 

V  nlture ;  .w  Arnold,  as  he  looked  out  from  the  window  saw 

her  compelled  to  shift  her  .■n.ehorage.    The  ne™;iations  of  th! 

wo  p.artics  continued  for  several  hours.     Oli^rtrin  pt 

on  to  bring  his  ai-my  to  the  siege  of  Fort  Deiianec,  which  en- 

do  ed  about  seven  acres  of  laud.    The  garrison  was  to  be  so 

hstribnted  .as  to  destroy  its  efflcieney.    Arnold  was  to  s^i  d 

nninedia  ely  to  Washington  for  aid,  and  to  surrender  th^pt^^ 

™  IdM   ,  ™"f°™»™*'  ^>W'=1'  it  was  believed  Washington 
^onld  conduct  in  person.     The  promises  to  Arnold  were  in- 

orcrVheT"'-"'''  ""  r""'  "-"^^'^  '"^  J^'«' 
ntr.fr   ^'"T'^fT"™'  '"'"ned  to  his  quarters.    Late 
m  the  afternoon  Andre,  disguising  himself  by  changing  his 
dress  for  the  garb  of  a  citizen,  provided  with  on,...  trZ  ^ 
oold  and  attended  by  Smith,  set  off  by  land  foi  jfew  Yol 


\ 


M  I 


'    .<»Wi 


432  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    eimv.;  cii.xxvm. 


(      ( 


li  !| 


i    / 


Four  years  before,  Washington  liad  sailed  between  tho 
Highlands,  and  had  marked  with  his  eye  the  positions  best 
adapted  to  command  the  passage.  Until  1778,  West  Point 
was  a  solitude,  nearly  inaccessible  ;  now  it  was  covered  by 
fortresses  with  numerous  redoubts,  consh-iicted  chiefly  under 
the  direction  of  Kosciuszko  as  engineer,  and  so  connected  as  to 
form  one  system  of  defence,  which  was  believed  to  be  impreg 
nablc.  Here  were  the  magazines  of  ammunition,  for  the  use 
not  of  tlie  post  only,  but  of  the  whole  army.  The  fortifica- 
tions seemingly  represented  a  vast  outlay  of  money;  but  the 
prodigious  labor  of  piling  on  the  steep  heights  huge  trunks  of 
trees  and  enormous  hewn  blocks  of  stouc  had  been  executed  by 
the  hands  of  the  American  soldiers,  who  received  for  their  toil 
not  the  smallest  gratification,  even  when  their  stated  pay  re- 
mained in  arrcar,*  And  these  works,  of  which  every  stone 
was  a  monument  of  nameless  disinterested  patriots,  were  to  bo 
betrayed  to  the  enemy,  with  all  their  garrison. 

On  that  same  evening  Washington,  free  from  suspicion, 
was  returning  to  his  army.  He  had  met  General  Rochauibeau 
and  Admiral  de  Ternay  at  Hartford.  "  The  interview  was  a 
g(  mine  festival  for  the  French,  who  were  impatient  to  see  tli3 
hero  of  liberty.  His  noble  mien,  the  sunplicity  of  his  man- 
ners, his  mild  gravity,  surpassed  their  expectations  and  gained 
for  him  their  hearts."  All  agreed  that,  for  Avant  of  a  superi- 
ority at  sea,  active  operations  could  not  be  begun;  so  that  the 
meeting  served  only  to  establish  friendslii])  and  confidence  be- 
tween the  officers  of  the  two  nations.  Washiiiijton  on  his  re- 
turn  was  accompanied  a  day's  journey  by  Count  Dumas,  one  of 
the  aids  of  Rochambeau.  The  population  of  the  to\vTi  where 
he  was  to  spend  the  night  went  out  to  meet  him.  A  crowd  of 
children,  repeating  the  acclamations  of  their  elders,  gathered 
around  him,  stopping  his  way,  all  wishing  to  touch  him  and 
with  loud  cries  calling  him  their  father.  Pressing  the  hand  of 
Dumas,  ho  said  to  him :  "  We  may  be  beaten  by  the  English  in 
the  field ;  it  is  the  lot  of  arms  :  but  see  there  the  army  which 
they  will  never  overcome." 

At  that  very  timo  Andre,  conducted  by  Smith,  crossed  the 

*  Boynton's  History  of  West  Point,  chap.  iv.     Complot  d'Arnold  ct  dc  Sir 
Henry  Ciinton,  VV-Sl.     Voyage  dt;  Cliuslcllux  dans  rAmeriiiuc,  2d  ed.,  i.,  71. 


'. ;  en,  xxvm. 


1780. 


Ilud 


son 


THE  COMPLOT  OF  CLINTON  AND  ARNOLD.         433 

riyor  at  King's  ferry.     It  was  already  dark  before 
they  passed  the  Auierican  post  at  Yorplu.ick's  Point,  under 
10  excuse  that  they  were  going  up  the  river,  and,  to  keep  up 
that  pretenec,  they  turned  in  for  ih.  night  near  Crompond 
Very  ear  y  on  the  twenty-third  they  vere  in  the  saddle.     Two 
miles  and  a  half  north  of  Pine's  bridge  over  the  Croton,  Smitli, 
assunng  Andre  that  the  rest  of  the  way  he  would  meet  only 
Lntish  parties,  or  cow-boys  as  they  were  called,  and  having 
charged  him  to  take  the  inner  route  to  New  York  through  the 
valley  of  the  Lronx  by  way  of  White  Plains,  near  which  the 
Lntish  had  an  outpost,  bade  him  farewell  and  rode  up  to  dino 
wi  h  Arnold  at  his  quarters.     At  a  fork  in  the  road  about  six 
miles  below  the  Croton,  Andre,  quitting  the  road  to  White 
Ilams,  took  that  which  led  over  the  hills,  and  entered  the 
highway  from  Albany  to  New  York  at  a  short  distance  above 
iaiytown.    lie  noNv  thought  himself  beyond  all  danger.   The 
Lntish  troops,  embarked  by  Sir  George  Eodney,  lay  waiting 
for  Clinton  to  give  the  word  and  to  lead  them  in  person 

It  happened  that  John  Paulding,  a  poor  man,  then  about 
for^y-six  years  old,  a  zealous  patriot  who  engaged  in  the  service 
of  his  country  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  and  wa^  twice 
made  captive,  had  lately  escaped  from  Kew  York  and  had 
formed  a  little  corps  of  partisans  to  annoy  rovers  taking  pro- 
visions to  New  I  rk,  or  otherwise  doing  service  to  the  Brit- 
ish     On  that  morning,  after  setting  a  reserve  of  four  to  keep 
watch  m  the  rear,  he  and  David  Williams  of  Tarrytown  and 
Isaac  van  Wart  of  Greenburg  seated  themselves  in  the  thicket 
by  the  wayside  just  above  Tarrytown,  and  whiled  away  the 
tunc  by  playing  cards.     At  an  horn-  before  noon  Andre^  waa 
rising  the  hill  out  of  Sleepy  Hollow,  within  fifteen  miles  of  the 
British  post  at  King's  Bridge,  when  Paulding  rose,  presented  a 
lirelock  at  his  breast,  and  asked  which  way  he  was  going.   FuU 
of  the  Idea  that  he  could  meet  none  but  friends  to  the  English 
he  answered  :  "Gentlemen,  I  hope  you  belong  to  our  paily  ?'' 
Which  party?"  asked  Paulding.     "The  lower  party,"  said 
Andre.     Paulding  answered  that  he  did.     Then  said  Andr^  : 
1  am  a  Bntish  officer,  out  on  particular  business,  and  I  hope 
you  will  not  detain  me  a  minute."     Upon  this  Pauldino-  or- 
dered him  to  dismount.     Seeing  his  mistake,  Andre  showed 


III 


»    «V 


'  I ' 


i^:  ii?ii 


;  :    I 


1 1   t 


I 


I  > 


If'V' 


' 


43i   AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  Wmi  FRANCE,    ep.  17. ;  oki.  xxviir. 

his  pass  from  Arnold,  saying:  "By  your  stopping  me,  j'ou 
will  detain  the  general's  business."  "  I  hope,"  answered  Paul- 
ding, "  you  will  not  be  offended ;  we  do  not  mean  to  take  any- 
thing from  you.  There  are  many  bad  people  going  along  the 
road ;  perhaps  you  may  be  one  of  them  ;"  and  he  asked  if  he 
had  any  letters  about  him.  Andre  answered :  "  No."  They 
took  him  into  the  bushes  to  search  for  papers,  and  at  last  dis- 
covered three  parcels  under  each  stocking.  Among  these  were 
a  plan  of  the  fortifications  of  West  Point ;  a  memorial  from  the 
engineer  on  the  attack  and  defence  of  the  place ;  returns  of 
the  garrison,  cannon,  and  stores  in  the  handwriting  of  Arnold. 
"This  is  a  spy,"  said  Paulding.  Andre  offered  a  hundred 
guineas,  any  sum  of  money,  if  they  Avould  but  let  him  go. 
"  No,"  cried  Paidding,  "  not  for  ten  thousand  guineas."  Tlicy 
then  led  him  off,  and,  arriving  in  the  evening  at  North  Castle, 
they  delivered  him  with  his  papers  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jame- 
son, who  commanded  the  post,  and  then  went  their  way,  not 
asking  a  reward  for  their  services,  nor  leaving  their  names. 

What  passed  between  Andre  and  Jameson  is  not  known. 
The  result  of  the  interview  was  that  on  the  twenty-fourth  the 
prisoner  was  ordered  by  Jameson  to  bo  taken  to  Arnold ;  but, 
on  the  sharp  remonstrance  of  Major  Talluiadge,  the  next  in 
rank,  the  order  was  countermanded,  and  he  was  confined  at 
Old  Salem,  yet  with  permission  to  inform  Arnold  by  letter 
of  his  arrest. 

Kis  letter  was  received  on  the  twerty-fifth,  too  late  for  an 
order  to  be  given  for  his  release,  and  only  in  time  for  Arnold 
himself  to  escape  do  am  the  river  to  the  V  culture.  Washing- 
ton, who  had  turned  aside  to  examine  the  condition  of  the 
works  at  West  Point,  arrived  a  few  hours  after  his  flight. 

The  first  care  of  the  commander-in-chief  was  for  the  safety 
of  the  post.  The  extent  of  the  danger  appeared  from  a  letter 
of  the  tweniy-fourth,  in  which  Andre  avowed  himself  to  be 
the  adjutant-general  of  the  British  anny,  and  offered  excuses 
tor  having  been  "  betrayed  into  the  vile  condition  of  an  enemy 
in  disguise "  within  his  posts.  lie  added :  "  The  request  I 
have  to  make  to  your  excellency,  and  I  am  conscious  I  address 
myself  well,  is  that,  in  any  rigor  policy  may  dictate,  a  decency 
of  conduct  toAvard  me  may  mai'k  that,  though  uiifortuiiate,  I 


y. ;  oki.  xxviir. 


irso.         THE   COMPLOT   OF  CLINTON   AND   ARNOLD.  435 

am  briinded  with  nothing  dishonorable,  as  no  motive  could  be 
mine  but  the  service  of  my  king,  and  as  I  was  involuntarily 
an  impostor."  This  request  was  grartcd,  and  in  the  whole 
affair  he  was  treated  with  the  most  scrupulous  dehcaay.  An- 
dre further  wrote :  "  Gentlemen  at  Charleston  on  parole  were  en- 
gaged in  a  conspiracy  against  us,  they  are  objects  who  may  be 
set  m  exchange  for  me,  or  are  persons  whom  the  treatment  I 
receive  might  affect."  The  charge  of  conspiracy  against  Gads- 
den and  his  ^^'-L  ow-sufferera  was  groundless,  and  had  been 
brought  forward  only  as  an  excuse  for  shipping  thein  away 
from  the  city,  where  their  mere  presence  kept  the  love  of  in- 
dependence alive ;  to  seek  security  by  a  threat  of  retaliation 
on  innocent  men  was  an  unworthy  act,  which  received  no 
support  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

Andre  was  without  loss  of  time  conducted  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  army  at  Tappan.     His   offence  was  so  clear 
that  It  would  have  justified  the  promptest  action ;  but,  to  pre- 
vent all  possibility  of  complaint  from  any  quarter,  he  was,  on 
the  twenty-ninth,  brought  before  a  numerous  and  very  able 
board  of  officers.     On  his  own  confession  and  without  the  ex- 
amination of  a  witness,  the  board,  on  which  sat  Greene ;  Saiiit- 
Clair,  afterward  president  of  congress  ;  Lafayette,  of  the  French 
army;  Steuben,  from  the  .taff  of  Frederic  IL  ;  Parsons,  CHn- 
ton.  Glover,  Knox,  Huntingdon,  and  othe-s,  all  well  known 
for  their  uprightness  —  made   their  unanimous   report   that 
Major  Andre,  adjutant-general  of  the  British  army,  ought  to 
be  considered  as  a  spy  from  the  enemy  and  to  suffer  death. 
The  court  showed  him  every  mark  of  indulgence,  and  required 
him  to  answer  no  interrogatory  which  could  even  embarrass 
Ills  feelings,     lie  acknowledged  their  generosity  in  the  strong- 
est terms  of  nnnly  gratitude,  and  afterward  remarked  to  one 
who  visited  him  that,  if  there  were  any  remains  in  his  mind  of 
prejudice  against  the  Americana,  his  present  experience  must 
o; •literate  them. 

On  the  thirtieth  the  sentence  was  ap])roved  by  Washing- 
ton, and  ordered  to  be  carried  into  effect  the  next  da}.  Clin- 
ton had  already,  in  a  note  to  Washington,  asked  Andre's  reLase, 
a^  of  one  who  had  been  pi-oteeted  by  «  a  flag  of  truce  and  pass- 
ports granted  for  liis  return."     Washington  replied  by  enclos- 


'% 


'  ! 


\ 


436   AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  cn.xxv.n. 


I      !'!' 


ing  to  the  British  commaiidcr-in-chicf  tho  report  of  the  board 
of  inquiry,  and  observed  "  tliat  Major  Andre  wao  employed  in 
the  execution  of  measures  very  foreign  to  flags  of  tmce,  and 
such  as  they  were  never  meant  to  autliorizc." 

At  the  request  of  Clinton,  who  jDromiscd  to  present  "a 
true  state  of  facts,"  tho  execution  was  delayed  till  the  second 
day  of  October ;  and  General  Eobertson,  attended  by  two  civil- 
ians, came  up  the  river  for  a  conference.     Tho  civilians  were 
not  allowed  to  land ;  but  Greene  was  deputed  to  meet  the  offi- 
cer.    Instead  of  presenting  facts,  Robertson,  after  compliments 
to  the  character  of  Greene,  announced  that  .^e  had  come  to 
treat  with  him.     Greene  answered  :  "  The  case  of  an  acknowl- 
edged spy  admits  no  ofhcial  discussion."    Robertson  then  pro- 
posed  to  free  Andre  by  an  exchange.     Greene  answered :  "  If 
Andre  is  set  free,  Arnold  must  be  given  up."    Robertson  then 
forgot  himself  so  far  as  to  deliver  an  open  letter  from  Arnold 
to  Washington,  in  which,  in  the  event  Andre  should  suffer  the 
penalty  of  death,  he  used  these  threats  :  "I  shall  tliink  myself 
bound  by  every  tie  of  duty  and  honor  to  retaliate  on  such  un- 
happy persons  of  your  army  as  may  fall  within  my  power. 
Forty  of  the  principal   inhabitants  of   South  Carolina  have 
justly  forfeited  their  lives  ;  Sir  Henry  Chnton  cannot  in  jus- 
tice extend  his  mercy  to  them  any  longer  :;•■  Major  Andre  suf- 
fers." 

Meantime,  Andre  entreated  that  he  migiit  not  die  "on  the 
gibbet."  Washington  and  every  other  officer  in  the  American 
army  were  moved  to  the  deepest  compassion  ;  and  Hamilton, 
who  hiis  left  his  opinion  that  no  one  ever  suffered  death  with 
more  justice  and  that  there  was  in  truth  no  way  of  saving  him, 
wished  tliat  in  the  mode  of  his  death  his  feelings  as  an  officer 
and  a  man  mught  be  respected.  But  the  English  themselves 
had  established  the  exclusive  usage  of  the  gallows.  At  the  bo- 
giiming  of  the  war  their  officers  in  America  tJL-eatened  the 
highest  American  oiFicers  and  statesmen  with  the  coru.  It  was 
the  only  mode  of  execution  authorized  by  them,  I  lider  the 
orders  of  Clinton,  Lord  Cornwallis  in  South  CaroHvM  ^^id  "^t 
up  the  gallows  for  those  whom  lie  styled  uesertts.  withu  it 
regard  to  rank.  The  exectition  took  place  in  the  manner  iaat 
waa  alone  in  use  on  both  sides. 


^1  !P  ;|| 

'J 


v.;  cn.  xi-v:ii. 


1780.        THE  COilPLOT   OF  CLINTON  AND  ARNOLD.         437 

Arrived  at  the  fatal  spot,  ho  said  :  « I  am  reconciled  to  my 
fate,  but  not  to  the  mode."  Being  asked  at  the  last  moment  if 
he  had  anjtlimg  to  sav,  he  answered :  "  Nothing  but  to  request 
you  to  witness  to  the  world  that  I  die  like  a  brave  man." 

It  is  a  blemish  on  the  character  of  Andre  that  he  had  be-un 
his  mission  by  prostituting  a  Hag,  had  pledged  his  word  forlhe 
mnocencc  and  private  nature  of  his  design,  and  had  wished  to 
inako  the   lives   of  faultless  prisoners  hostages  for  his  o-.vn 
About  these  things  a  man  of  honor  and  humanity  ought  to  have 
]iad  a  scrapie  ;  «  but  the  temptation  was  great ;'  lot  his  misfor- 
tunes cast  a  veil  over  his  errors."     The  last  words  of    indre 
committed  to  the  Americans  the  care  of  his  reputation  :  and  they 
faitiifully  fulfilled  his  request.     The  firmness  and  delieicy  ob- 
gorved  in  his  case  were  exceedingly  admired  on  the  contment 
of  Europe.     Ilis  king  did  riglit  in  offering  honorable  rank  to 
Lis  brother,  and  in  granting  pensions  to  his  mother  and  sisters; 
but  not  in  raising  a  momorial  to  his  name  in  Westminster 
Abbey.     Such  honor  belongs  to  ot^ier  enter]u-ises  and  deeds. 
Ihe  tablet  has  no  lit  place  in  a  sanctuary,  dear  from  its  monu- 
ments to  every  friend  to  genius  and  mankind. 

As  for  Arnold,  he  had  not  feeling  enough  to  undero-o 
mental  torments,  and  his  coarse  nature  was  not  sensitive  to 
saame.  Though  bankrupt  ,ind  flying  from  his  creditors,  he  p;-e- 
forred  claims  to  indemnity,  and  received  between  six  and  seven 
thousand  pounds.  He  suffered  only  when  he  found  that  baf- 
fled treason,  is  paid  gradgingiy;  wIk  u  empioyment  was  re- 
tuscd  him ;  when  he  could  neither  stay  in  England  nor  o-et 
orders  for  service  in  America  ;  when,  dcopised  and  neglected, 
he  was  pinched  by  want.  But  the  king  would  not  suffer  his 
children  to  starve,  and  .eventually  their  uames  -.ere  placed  on 
the  pension  list. 

Sir  George  Rodney  rnturned  -^  '^le  West  Indies,  and  so 
far  as  related  to  himself,  let  the  ur;,';accessful  conspiracy  sink 
uito  oblivion.  For  Clinton,  the  cup  of  humiliation  was  filled 
to  the  brim.     "  Thus  ended,"  so  ho  -.Tote  in  lii,- 


Ge 


iTinain,  "this 


priipoio 


anguish  to 


id  plan,  from  which  I  had  conceived 


such  great  hopes  and  imagined  such  great  consequences."  He 
was,^  moreover,  obliged  to  introduce  into  high  rank  in  the 
British  army,  and   receive  a*    his  council  table,  a  man  who 


M 


438  AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    eimv.;  oh.  xxvm. 

had  shown  himself  so  sordid  that  Eritish  oifieers  of  honor  hated 
to  serve  with  Jiiin.  Arnold  had  the  effrontery  to  make  ad- 
dresses to  the  Amei-ican  people  respecting  their  alliance  with 
France;  to  write  insolent  letters  to  Washington ;  to  hivite  all 
Americans  to  desert  the  colors  of  their  country  like  himseii ; 
to  advise  the  hreaking  up  of  the  American  army  by  wholesulJ 
bribery.  Kay,  he  even  turned  against  his  patron  as  wanting 
activity,  assuring  Germain  that  the  American  posts  in  the 
Highlands  mi«  ht  bo  carried  in  a.  few  days  by  a  regular  attack. 
No  one  knew  i)etter  than  Clinton  that  Andre  was  puuit^hed 
justly;  yet  in  his  private  journal  he  aimed  a  stab  at  the 
fair  fame  of  his  humane  adversary,  whom  he  had  not  been  able 
to  overcome  in  the  Held  nor  by  the  practice  of  base  deceit ; 
and  attributed  an  act  of  public  duty  to  personal  "  rancor,"  for 
wliich  no  cause  whatever  existed.  The  false  accusation  proves 
not  so  much  uialignity  in  its  author  as  feebleness.-^- 

■Washingtoii  sought  out  the  three  men  who,  "leaning  only 
on  their  vii-tue  and  an  honest  sense  of  their  duty,"  could 
not  be  tempted  by  gold  ;  and  on  his  report  congress  voted 
them  anr.  lities  in  words  of  resi)ect  and  honor. 

*  In  my  narrative  I  bavo  follo-vcd  only  contemporary  documents,  which  are 
abumiaiu  and  oi  the  surest  cho  and  wliich,  taken   collectively,  solve  every 

question.  The  most  importa  vc  .'ho  proceedings  of  the  An.e'rieun  court  of 
inquiry  ;  riintou's  elaborafe  i.  j.onl  (Jcorge  Germain  of  1 1  mid  12  October 

!  781) ;  Narrative  of  correspondon.  i;d  transactions  respeetin;^  General  Arnold  iu 
Sir  Henry  Clinton's  letter  of  11  October  1780  ;  (^linton's  secret  letter  of  30  October 
1 780 ;  Clinton's  report  to  Lord  Amherst  of  10  October  17S0 ;  Extract  from  Clinton's 
Journal  in  Mahun's  En-land,  vii.  Appendix  vii.  to  xi.  ;  Journal  of  General  Mat- 
thews;  Trial  of  Jorfhua  Ilctt  Smith,  New  York,  18CG  ;  and  especially  Ilunnlton's 
account  of  An.be's  affair  in  Works,  i.,  172-182.  This  last  is  particularly  valu- 
able,  as  ILamilton  had  the  best  opporfmitios  to  be  well  info-med;  and  in  liis  nar- 
rative,  if  there  are  any  traces  of  i)arti,ility,  it  is  toward  Andre  that  ho  leaned. 
Ihe  reminiscences  of  men  who  wrote  in  later  days  are  so  mixed  up  with  errors  of 
iiiemory  and  fable  that  they  offer  no  sure  foothold. 


IV. ;  oil.  xxvm. 


1779, 


STRIVING  FOR  UNION. 


439 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


iiii-ress  voted 


STRIVING    FOK    UNION. 

1Y79-1781. 

"  OiJK  rcspectivo  govcnimcints  which  compose  the  nmon," 
80  ran  the  circular  of  congreti.s  to  the  states  iu  the  opening  of 
tlie  3^ear  1779,  "are  settled  and  in  the  vigorous  exercise  of  un- 
controlled authority."  The  union  itself  was  without  credit 
and  unable  to  enforce  the  collection  of  taxes.  About  one  hun- 
dred and  six  millions  of  paper  money  were  then  in  circulation, 
and  in  April  1779  stood  at  five  cents.  For  the  service  of  the 
year  1779,  congress  invited  the  states  to  pay  by  instalments 
their  respective  quotas  of  fifteen  millions ;  and,  furtlu^r,  to  pay 
six  inillions  anmuilly  for  eighteen  years,  as  a  fund  to  sink  all 
jnvvious  emissions  and  obligations.  After  these  preliminaries, 
a  new  issue  of  a  little  more  than  fifty  millions  was  authorized! 

"The  state  of  the  currency  was  the  great  impediment  to 
all  vigorous  measures ; "  it  became  a  question  wliether  men,  if 
tliey  could  be  raised,  could  be  subsisted.  The  Pennsylvania 
fa)-mers  were  unwilling  to  sell  their  wheat  except  for  hard 
i.ioney.  There  was  no  hope  of  relief  but  from  the  central  au- 
thority. ^  To  confederate  without  Maryland  was  the  opinion  of 
Connecticut;  with  nine  or  more  states,  of  Boston;  with  "so 
many  as  shall  be  willing  to  do  so,"  allowing  to  the  rest  a  time 
dm-ing  which  they  might  conie  in,  of  Virginia. 

Late  in  Ma_>  congress  apportioned  among  the  states  forty- 
five  millions  of  dollars  more,  though  there  was  no  chance  that 
the  former  apportionment  would  be  paid.  Four  times  in 
the  course  of  the  year  it  sent  forth  addresses  to  the  several 
states.     Newspapers,  town-meetings,  legislatures,  teemed  with 


f  ■      1 


;    t    ■ 


w 


'    i 


440    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE. 


EP,  XY.  ;  en.  XXIX. 


remedial  plans;  but  the  issi;e  of  paper  constantly  increased 
and  its  value  fell  witli  accelerated  velocity.     In  the  middle  of 
August,  when  a  paper  dollar  was  Avorth  but  three  or  four  cents 
Washington  directed  his  agents  to  receive  it  no  longer,  for  the 
legal-tender  law  countenanced  dishonesty. 

On  tlie  second  of  September,  congress  having  ascertained 
that  the  sum  of  outstanding  emissions  was  but  little  thort  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  millions,  limited  paper  money  to  two 
hundred  millions ;  and  the  limit  was  reached  before  the  end 
of  the  year.     In  October  it  appointed  Henry  Laurens  of  South 
Carolina  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  ten  millions  in  the  JS^etherlands 
though  they  had  not  yet  acknowledged  Iho  existence  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  in  ]S'"ovember  it  resolved  to  draw  upon  hiia 
on  time  for  ono  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling.    It  resolved 
to  draw  on  Jay,  their  minister  at  Macbid,  for  as  nmeh  more, 
which  he  was  left  to  get  from  the  king  of  Spain,  though  that 
Idng  was  the  most  determined  foe  to  the  independence  of  the 
United  States.     Laurens  and  Jay  wore  instructed  mutually  to 
suijport  each  other,  though  neither  of  them  had  any  but  iuia"-- 
inary  resources.     In  tbe  midst  of  these  financial  straits  tl^e 
year  came  to  an  cud ;  and  a  paper  dollar,  which,  when  first 
buoyed  up  by  the  French  alliance,  was  valued  at  twenty  cents, 
in  January  1779  had  fidlon  to  twelve  and  a  half,  in  April  to 
five  cents,  in  Deceml)er  to  less  than  two  and  a  half  cents. 

^  The  legislature  of  Yirginia  had,  on  the  second  of  Juno 
1779,  unanimously  ratified  the  treaties  of  alliance  and  com- 
merce between  France  and  the  United  States ;  and  the  gov- 
ernor had,  under  the  seal  cf  the  commonwealth,  notified  the 
French  envoy  at  rhiladeli)hia  of  the  act.     The  logiLdature  of 
Maryland  formally  approved  the  act  of  its  delegates  in  congress 
in  ratifying  the  treaties.     No  other  state  followed  these  exam- 
ples.    Vergennes,  in  September,  after  reflecting  on  the  pro- 
cedure of  Virginia,  gave  instructions  to  Gerard  in  these  word.;  : 
"  During  the  war  it  is  essential,  both  for  the  United  States  and 
for  us,  that  their  union  should  be  as  perfect  as  possible.    When 
they  shall  bo  left  to  themselves,  the  general  confederation  M-ill 
have  much  difficulty  in  maintaining  itself,  and  will  perhaps  be 
replaced  by  separate  confederations.     Should  this  revolution 
occur,  it  will  weaken  the  United  States,  which  have  not  now, 


m 


IV. ;  en.  XXIX, 


1779-1780. 


STRIVING  FOR   UNION. 


441 


and  never  will  Lave,  real  and  respectable  strength  except  by 
their  union.  But  it  is  for  themselves  alone  to  make  these  re- 
flections. We  have  no  right  to  present  them  for  their  consid- 
eration, and  we  have  no  interest  whatever  to  see  America  play 
the  part  of  a  power.  The  possibility  of  the  dissolution  of  the 
general  confederation  and  the  consequent  suppression  of  con- 
gi-ess  leads  us  to  think  that  nothing  can  bo  more  conformable 
to  our  poHtical  interest  than  separate  acts  by  which  each  state 
shall  ratify  the  treaties  concluded  with  France  ;  because  in  this 
way  every  state  will  be  found  separately  connected  with  us, 
whatever  may  be  the  fortune  of  the  general  confederation." 

The  sentiment  of  congress  was  strong  against  the  exercise 
of  a  separate  voice  on  a  subject  reserved  exclusively  for  the 
deliberation  of  the  confederacy.  Before  the  war  was  ended, 
both  Maryland  and  Virginia  applied  directly  to  France  for  as- 
sistance, which  Virginia  received. 

On  the  question  of  a  closer  union,  Virginia  hung  nearly  ou 
the  balance.  The  first  of  her  citizens,  at  tlie  head  of  the  army, 
was  using  all  his  powers  of  persuasion  to  promote  an  efficient 
government ;  and  her  legislature  selected  Madison,  a  friend  to 
union,  as  one  of  her  representatives.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
the  chief  claimant  of  north-western  lands  in  opposition  to  con- 
gress, she,  above  all  others,  asserted  the  sovereignty  of  the 
separate  states.  Congress  had  received  petitions  from  persons, 
claiming  to  be  companies,  holding  land  north-west  of  the  Ohio. 
"  Should  congress  assume  a  jurisdiction,"  such  was  the  remon- 
strance of  the  general  assembly  of  Virginia,  ''  it  would  bo  a 
violation  of  public  faith ;  iutroduco  a  most  dangerous  pre- 
cedent, which  miglit  hereafter  bo  urged  to  deprive  of  territory 
or  subvert  the  sovereignty  and  government  of  any  one  or  more 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  establish  in  congress  a  power  which, 
in  process  of  time,  must  degenerate  into  an  intolerable  despot- 
ism." "^Vlthough  the  general  assembly  of  Virginia  would 
make  great  sacrifices  to  the  common  interest  of  America  (as 
they  have  already  done  on  the  subject  of  representation),  and 
will  be  ready  to  listen  to  any  just  and  reasonable  proposirionB 
for  removing  tlie  ostensible  causes  of  delay  to  the  complett, 
ratification  of  the  confederation,  tliey  do  hereby,  in  tlie  name 
and  on  behak  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  expressly  pro- 


■    1! 


a 


■^■i\      •     I 


I 


.    I 


i   '.       ' 


Ml 


f  >' 


I 


1 1 


il'^l 


442    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     k.mv.;  on.  xxix. 

test  against  any  jurisdiction  or  ri^r],t  of  adjudication  in  con- 
gress upon  the  i)e(;itions  of  the  Vandalia  or  Indiana  companies 
or  on  any  other  matter  or  thing  subversive  of  the  internal 
policy,  civil  govei-nment,  or  sov-eignty  of  this  or  any  otlier 
of  tlie  lJnit(Ml  American  States,  or  unwarranted  by  the  articles 
of  confederation."  Congress,  on  mature  consideration,  dechned 
the  discussion  of  the  remonstrance. 

To  counterbalance  the  sturdy  resistance  of  Virginia  the 
legislature  of  New  York  took  the  Held.     They  founded  claims 
to  western  territory  on  the  discoveries  and  the  ca])itulation  of 
the  Dutch,  on  the  grant  from  Charles  11.  to  the  duke  of  York 
and  on  the  acquisition  of  the  rights  of  the  Five  J^ations  and 
their  tributaries  as  the  native  proprietors.     Desirous  to  acceler- 
ate the  federal  alliance,  on  the  nineteenth  of  Ajuil  17S0  they 
authorized  congress  to  restrict  their  boundaries  on  the  west. 
This  is  the  first  important  act  of  the  states  in  surrenderin;r 
public  lands  to  the  federal  union. 

At  the  opening  of  the  year  1780  congress  found  Itself  help- 
less, and  threw  everything  upon  the  states.     lu  truth,  it  could 
do  notlung  else.     On  the  ninth  of  February  it  fixed  the  number 
of  men  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  year  at  over  thirty-five 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eleven,  and  required  the  states  to 
furnish  by  drafts  or  otherwise,  before  the  first  day  of  the  comin^ 
Aprd,  the  respective  deficiencies  in  their  quotas,  which  were 
prescribed   with  exactness.     To   subsist   the  troops,  congress 
called  on  the  several  states  to  furnish  their  respective  quotas  of 
supphes  for  the  ensuing  season,  thus  shoving  off  from  itself  all 
mve  for  recruiting  the  army  and  all  responsi])ilitv  for  its  support. 
To  gam  money,  It  directed  the  states  to  bring  into  the  conti- 
nental treasury,  by  taxes  or  otherwise,  one  million  two  hundred 
and  fif.y  thousand  dollars  every  month  to  the  month  of  April 
1<81   niclusivo  m  hard  money  or  with  fortv  dollars  in  the  old 
bills  for  one  dollar  of  the  tax.     The  bills  that  should  be  thus 
brought  in  were  to  be  destroyed;  and,  for  every  fortv  dollars 
actually  cancelled,  two  dollars  were  permitted  of  a  new  issue, 
bearing  hve  per  cent  interest,  rc^ceivable  bv  the  continental 
treasury  as  specie,  and  redeemable  in  speeio  by  the  several  states 
on  or  before  the  last  day  of  December  17.*i*l 

As  fast  as  the  new  bills  should  be  si-ned  imd  emitted,  the 


■ '!  ;  » 


ml  '■ 


'V.;  (!ii.xxix. 


1780. 


STRIVING  FOK   UNION. 


448 


states  respectively  on  whose  funds  they  were  to  be  issued  were 
to  receive  three  lifths  of  them  ;  the  reruaiiung  t^vo  lifths  were 
to  be  subjcet  to  the  order  of  the  United  States,  and  to  be  duly 
credited  to  the  several  states.     All  laws  on  legal  tender  were 
to  be  adapted  to  the  new  system.     The  elaborate  j^lan  wa^gen- 
erally  well  received,  thougli  by  a  more  vote  it  sponged  out  thirty- 
nine  fortieths  of  the  former  currency.     As  the  bills  were  to  bo 
issued  in  the  names  of  the  several  states,  the  plan  could  not  go 
in.o  effect  till  each  one  of  them  should  give  authority  for  the 
use  of  Its  name.     Meantime,  the  demands  on  the  confederar-y 
were  m  part  answered  by  warrants  on  the  several  states,  and  to 
discharge  these  warrants  tlie  states  used  the  taxes  collected  for 
the  continental  treasury. 

Pennsylvania  was  the  first  state  that  had  the  opportunity  to 
accept  the  measure,  and  it  adjourned  without  acting  upon  it 
The  legislature  of  Virginia  rejected  it  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority, and  at  last,  after  great  persuasion,  accepted  it  by  a  ma- 
jority of  but  two.  The  old  currency  soon  ceased  to  circulate  • 
the  new  emission  wanted  credit  from  the  beginning.  ' 

A  cry  arose,  especially  in  the  army,  for  an  ellicrcnt  govern- 
ment.    "While  the  powers  of  congress,"  wrote  Greene  "are 
so  incompetent,  our  affairs  will  grow  worse  and  worse  until  ruin 
overtakes  us."     In  the  army,  which  had  been  unpaid  for  five 
months,  every  department  was  without  money  and  without  the 
shadow  of  credit.     To  relieve  this  gloomy  state  of  things  con- 
gress, on  the  tenth  of  April  1780,  i)romi,sed  to  make  good  to 
the  officers  and  line  the  depreciation  in  their  pay ;  but  the 
promise  was  little  wortli.     For  a  long  time  the  troops  received 
only  from  one  half  to  one  eighth  of  a  ration  of  meat,  and  were 
several  days  without  a  single  pound  of  it.     Washington  ap- 
pealed to  Reed,  the  president  of  the  rich  state  of  Pennsylvania, 
which,  except  for  a  few  months  in  1777  and  1778,  had  been 
untouched  by  the  war ;  but  it  was  in  vain.     "  The  great  man," 
wrote  Greene  secretly  to  the  president  of  Pennsylvania,  "is 
confounded  at  his  situation,  but  appears  to  be  reserved  and 
silent.     Should  there  be  a  want  of  provisions,  we  cannot  hoi ', 
together  many  days  in  the  present  temper  of  the  army."     On 
the  twenty-fifth  of  May  two  regiments  of  Connecticut,  worn 
out  by  want  of  clothes  and  food  and  pay,  pai-adcd  under  arms. 

VOL.    V. — HO  ^     "      X  f 


',['.  i!  li 


!i 


') : 


i  If    ■'M 


i  i 


!l 


444    AMERICA  IX  ALLIANCE  TVITII  FRANCE,    ep.  iv.  ;  oh.  xxix. 

declaring  tlicir  resolution  to  return  home,  or  to  oljtain  subsist- 
ence for  tliemselves  ;  and  they  were  brought  back  to  their  duty 
only  by  being  reminded  that  they  were  defenders  of  the  rights 
of  mankind,  and,  as  a  grave  writer  who  was  then  with  the 
array  relates,  by  the  "influence  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
whom  they  almost  adored."  The  enemy  appeared  against 
thom  in  the  midst  of  these  trials ;  and  they  rallied  as  one  man 
and  kept  him  at  bay. 

"  Certain  I  am,"  wrote  "Washington,  in  May,  to  his  friend 
Joseph  Jones  of  King  George,  a  delegate  in  congress  from 
Virginia,  "unless  congress  are  vested  by  the  several  states 
with  powers  competent  to  the  great  purposes  of  war,  or  as- 
sume them  as  matter  of  right,  and  they  and  the  states  respect- 
ively act  with  more  energy  than  they  have  hitherto  dune, 
our  cause  is  lost.  By  ill-timing  in  the  adoption  of  measures, 
by  delays  in  the  execution  of  them,  or  by  unwarrantable  jeal- 
ousies, we  incur  enormous  expenses  and  derive  no  benefit 
from  them.  One  state  will  comply  with  a  rerpiisition  of  con- 
gress ;  another  neglects  to  do  it ;  a  third  executes  it  by  halves ; 
and  all  diiler  either  in  the  manner,  the  matter,  or  so  much 
in  point  of  time,  that  we  are  always  working  up-hill.  While 
the  present  want  of  system  prevails  we  shall  ever  be  unable 
to  apply  our  strength  or  resources  to  any  advantage. 

"  This,  my  dear  sir,  is  plain  language  to  a  member  of  con- 
gress, but  is  the  result  of  long  thinking,  close  ai)plication, 
and  strict  observation,  I  see  one  head  gradually  changing  into 
thirteen.  I  see  one  army  branching  into  thirteen,  which,  in- 
stead of  looking  up  to  congress  as  the  supreme  controlling 
power  of  the  United  States,  are  considering  themselves  as  de- 
pendent on  their  respective  states.  In  a  word,  I  see  the  powers 
of  congress  declining  too  fast  for  the  consideration  and  respect 
which  are  due  to  them  as  the  great  representative  body  of 
America,  and  I  am  fearful  of  the  consecpiences." 

"  Congress,"  answered  his  correspondent,  "  have  scarcely  a 
power  left  but  such  as  concerns  foreign  transactions ;  for,  as  to 
the  army,  they  are  at  present  little  more  than  the  medium 
througli  which  its  wants  are  conveyed  to  the  states.  This  body 
never  had,  or  at  least  in  few  instances  ever  exercised,  powers 
adequate  to  the  purposes  of  war ;  and,  indeed,  such  as  they 


IV.  ;  OH.  XXIX. 


1780. 


STRIVING  FOR  TXION. 


445 

tonnd  very  difficult  to  recover  them.     Eesolutlons  are  now 

WLeu  it  became  certain  that  troops  from  France  wore  on 

then-  way  to  a^ist  .he  eountrj,  congri  made  notCTera^em 

Wunce  of  d,reet  a,  tion,  and  could  only  entreat  the  stotato 

correspond  severally  with  its  committee  at  head-quart™     „ 

ha^^ .,  might  explicitly  know  how  far  they  could  toS  on 

IkdTr  tLTT,'  "'Tl'"'^  P''"^'°™  that  W  t™ 
™nt  vl;  11  !,''"'"  "'  Pennsylvania,  before  its  adjourn- 
ment vesClarge  discretionary  powers  in  president  Ee,  d  •  but 
these  he  declmed  to  use.  In  June  stops  were  taken  Phill 
de Iphia  for  founding  a  bank  with  leave  to  i.!„e  notes  xlt 
subscnbere  proposed,  but  only  on  adequate  security  To  mike 
purch^s  ,n  advance  for  the  suilering  soldie«.  C—Tat 
cepted  the  proffer  of  aid,  and  further  resolved  to  hZfZ  the 
company  as  much  of  its  paper  money  a«  could  be  sp^d  frl 

Esth?r%!T:if  ™*lplm,  rallying  round  the  amiable 
tstber  Reed,  wife  of  the  president  of  Pennsylvania,  brouo-ht 
tgother  large  donation,  of  clothing,  and  invited  the  I  fa  of 

not  nee?  T  "'  ^''"'."''"'  '"  "«=  """y.  '">*  "''^ir  gift,  eould 
not  meet  its  ever-recumng  wants. 

state^foritr"""'!  ''"'''  ™P''"'=^  "  ■''"<•  di^tly  ftom  "  »h 
state  for  Its  own  troops,  quota,  were  sometimes  appo,.„ned 
by  the  states  to  their  towns,  and  in  towns  to  individ  ,  ds    Men 

to  W  "TV"  "  ^7  ^'"''"'  ^'""»-  -"W  club  t  geaier 

herf7of  cattle  s"  ":;*'  f^'"'  '"  ""'■■  '=°"'=«''™  'l""'-.  »d 
fe.rds  of  cattle  so  gathered  were  driven  to  the  camp     Al  this 

marked  an  act™  spirit  of  patriotism  reaching  to  th  >  humb  e 

and  remotes    but  it  showed  the  want  of  organized  powef 

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unless  there  is  some  control  over  tlie  states  by  the  congress,  we 
shall  soon  be  like  a  broken  band."  Even  with  his  energy 
there  could  be  no  efficient  administration  in  the  quartermas- 
ter's department,  though  it  had  been  placed  on  a  centralized 
system  under  his  immediate  authority,  with  powers  almost 
independent  of  congress,  and  with  exorbitant  emoluments  for 
himself,  his  assistants,  and  subordinates.  The  system  .  tself  in 
the  hands  of  a  bad  man  would  have  opened  the  way  to  endless 
abuses ;  and  congress  wisely  restored  its  own  controlling  civil 
supervision.  Dismissing  a  useless  supernumerary,  it  deter- 
mined to  have  but  one  head  of  the  quartermaster's  department 
at  the  seat  of  congress,  and  one  at  the  camp ;  and,  in  paying 
the  officers  of  the  staff,  it  returned  to  salaries  instead  of  con^ 
missions.  The  unanimous  judgment  of  the  country  from  that 
day  to  this  has  approved  the  reform.  Greene  resigned  with 
petulant  abruptness.  His  successor  in  the  quartermaster's  de- 
partment was  Timothy  Pickering,  who  excelled  him  as  a  man 
of  business ;  was  content  with  moderate  pay ;  and  was  singu- 
larly frugal  and  exact ;  so  that  the  service  suffered  nothing  by 
the  change. 

The  tendency  to  leave  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  sepa- 
rate states  was  a  natural  consequence  of  their  historic  devel- 
opment, and  was  confirmed  by  pressing  necessity.  "  A  single 
assembly,"  so  John  Adams  long  continued  to  reason,  "  is  every 
way  adequate  to  the  management  of  all  the  federal  concerns 
of  the  people  of  America ;  because  congress  is  not  a  legislative, 
nor  a  representative,  but  a  diplomatic  assembly." 

Congress  having  requested  the  eight  states  north  of  Mary- 
land to  convene  at  New  Haven,  in  January  17"^,  all  but 
Delaware  appeared ;  but  they  strove  in  vain  to  regulate  prices. 
The  convention  of  the  eastern  states,  which  at  the  instance  of 
Massachusetts  assembled  in  1779  at  Hartford,  is  memorable 
for  having  advised  a  convention  of  all  the  states  at  Philadel- 
phia. In  consequence,  early  in  1780,  delegates  from  every 
state  north  of  Virginia,  except  New  York,  met  in  that  city, 
but  accomplished  nothing.  By  the  meeting  of  the  eastern 
states  in  August  1780,  at  Boston,  the  first  step  was  taken  to- 
ward the  formation  of  a  federal  constitution.  After  adopting 
a  series  of  measures  best  suited  to  the  campaign,  they  resolved 


2i.w 


IV. ;  CH.  XXIX. 


songress,  wo 


1780. 


STRIVING  FOR  UNION. 


447 


m,  "  18  every 


"that  the  union  of  these  states  be  fixed  in  a  more  solid  and 
permanent  manner;  that  the  powers  of  congress  be  more 
clearly  ascertained  and  defined ;  that  the  important  national 
concerns  of  the  United  States  be  under  the  superintendency 
and  direction  of  one  supreme  head;  that  it  be  recommended 
to  the  stateg  to  empower  their  delegates  in  congress  to  con- 
federate with  such  of  the  states  as  wiU  accede  to  the  proposed 
confederation;  and  that  .hey  invest  their  delegates  in  congress 
with  powers  competent  for  the  government  and  direction  of 
all  those  common  and  national  aifairs  which  do  not  nor  can 
come  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  particular  states." 

'^  These  resolutions,"  wrote  Washington  to  Bowdoin,  then 
president  of  the  council  of  Massachusetts,  "  if  adopted,  will  be 
the  means  most  likely  to  rescue  our  affairs  from  the  com- 
plicated and  dreadful  embarrassments  under  which  they  labor 
and  will  do  infinite  honor  to  those  witli  whom  they  originate' 
I  sincerely  wish  they  may  meet  with  no  opposition  or  delay 
in  their  progress," 

The  words  of  the  Boston  convention  sunk  deeply  into  the 
mind  of  Hamilton,  who  for  three  and  a  half  years  had  been 
Washington's  most  able  and  confidential  secretary;  and,  under 
his  eye  and  guidance,  had  watched  the  course  of  affau4  from 
tlie  central  point  where  they  could  best  be  overseen.     To  these 
opportunities  he  added   the  resources  of  an  inventive  and 
fearless  mind,  the  quick  impulses  of  youth,  and  the  habit  of 
steady  and  severe  reflection.     Uncontrolled  by  birth  or  in- 
herited attachments  to  any  one  state,  he  fastened  upon  the 
idea  of  a  stronger  union.     By  disposition  and  temperament  he 
demanded  a  strorg  and  well-organized  government.     From 
childhood  he  wa«  unbounded  in  liis  admiration  of  the  Fnglish 
constitution,  and  did  not  utterly  condemn  its  methods  of  cor- 
ruption in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs;  yet  in  his  own  nature 
tliere  was  nothing  sordid  or  low;  he  was  always  true  to  the 
sense  of  personal  integrity  and  honor.     The  character  of  his 
nund  and  his  leaning  to  authority,  combined  with  something 
ot  a  mean  opinion  of  his  fellow-men,  cut  him  off  from  the  sym- 
pathy  of  the  masses,  so  that  he  was  in  many  ways  unfit  to  lead 
a  party :  and  the  years  of  his  life  which  were  most  productive 
of  good  wore  thoae  in  which  he  acted  under  Washington. 


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448     AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.  iv. ;  on.  xxix. 

Oil  tlic  tliird  of  September  1780,  Hamilton  took  tlio  field 
in  behalf  of  a  national  constitution  by  urging  Duane,  a  mem- 
ber of  congress  from  New  York,  to  bold  up  to  that  body 
tbo  example  of  the  meeting  of  the  New  England  states,  and 
to  call  on  the  first  day  of  the  next  November  a  convention  of 
all  the  states,  with  full  authority  to  conclude  finally  upon  a 
general  confederation.  He  traced  the  causes  of  the  want  of 
power  in  congress,  and  censured  that  body  for  its  tluiidity  in 
refusing  to  assume  authority  to  preserve  the  rciniblic  from 
hann.  "  Undefined  powers,"  he  said,  "  are  discretionary  pow- 
ers, limited  only  by  the  object  for  which  they  were  given," 
not  holding  in  mind  that  congress  could  not  have  assumed 
such  powers,  even  if  it  would.  "  Already,"  he  continued, 
"some  of  the  lines  of  the  army,  but  for  the  personal  influence 
of  the  general,  would  obey  their  states  in  opposition  to  con- 
gress, notwithstanding  the  pains  taken  to  preserve  the  unity 
of  the  army.  The  sovereign  of  an  empire  under  one  simple 
form  of  government  1'^'-  too  much  power;  in  an  empire  com- 
posed of  confederated  states,  each  with  a  government  com- 
pletely organized  within  itself,  the  danger  is  directly  the  re- 
verse." 

"  "'v7o  must,  at  all  events,  have  a  vigorous  confederation," 
he  said,  "  if  wo  mean  to  succeed  in  the  contest,  and  be  happy 
thereafter.  Internal  police  should  be  regulated  by  the  legisla- 
tures. Congress  should  have  complete  sovereignty  in  all  that 
relates  to  war,  peace,  trade,  finance,  foreign  alTairs,  armies, 
fleets,  fortifications,  coining  money,  establishing  banks,  im- 
posing a  land-tax,  poll-tax,  duties  on  trade,  and  tlie  unoccupied 
lands."  "  The  confederation  should  })rovide  certain  pei-petual 
revenues,  productive  and  easy  of  collection — a  land-tax,  poll- 
tax,  or  the  like ;  which,  together  with  the  duties  on  trade  and 
the  unlocated  lands,  would  give  congress  a  substantial  exist- 
ence." "  "Where  the  public  good  is  evidently  the  object,  more 
may  be  effected  in  governments  like  ours  than  in  any  other. 
It  has  been  a  constant  remark  that  free  countries  have  ever 
paid  the  heaviest  taxes.  The  obedience  of  a  free  people  to 
general  laws,  however  hard  they  bear,  is  ever  more  perfect 
than  that  of  slaves  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  a  prince." 

"  As  to  the  ]>lan  of  confederation  which  congress  has  pro- 


J 


IV. ;  on.  XXIX. 


i7ao. 


STRIVING  FOR  UNION. 


440 


posed,  it  is,"  he  said,  «  defective,  and  requires  to  be  altered. 
It  is  neither  iit  for  war  nor  peace.  The  idea  of  an  iincoiitrol- 
Lible  sovereignty  in  each  state  will  defeat  the  powers  given  to 
congress,  and  make  our  union  feeble  and  precarious." 

The  second  step  which  Hamilton  reconuneiidod  was  the 
appointment  of  great  officers  of  state-one  for  the  department 
of  foreign  all'air;^,  another  for  war,  a  third  for  the  navv,  a 
fourth  for  the  treasury.  These  were  to  supersede  the  connnit- 
tces  and  the  boards  which  had  hitherto  been  usual ;  but  his 
plan  neither  went  so  far  as  to  propose  a  president  with  the 
chief  executive  power,  nor  two  branches  in  the  national  legis- 
lature, lie  would  have  placed  the  army  exclusively  under 
congress,  and  valued  it  as  "a  solid  basis  of  authority  and  con- 
se(pience."  The  precedent  of  the  bank  of  England,  of  which 
he  overestimated  the  influence  on  public  credit,  led  him  to 
expect  too  much  from  a  bank  of  the  United  States. 

The  advice  which  Hamilton  offered  from  his  tent,  in  the 
midst  of  an  uni.aid,  half-fed,  and  half-clad  army,  w^as  the  more 
remarkable  from  the  hopefulness  which  beamed  through  his 
words.  Ko  doubt  crossed  his  mind  that  a  republic  of  united 
states  could  embrace  a  continental  territory. 

Two  days  later  AV^isliington,  with  Duane  at  his  side,  gazed 
from  Weehawken  Heights  on  the  half-ruined  city  of  JS^ew 
York  in  her  bondage.     lie  never  gave  himself  rest  in  his  ef- 
forts to  create  the  system  of  government  which  was  soon  to 
gather  the  wealth  and  commercial  representatives  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  world  on  that  island  and  the  neighboring  shores. 
On  the  twenty-second  of  October,  intent  on  inspiring  his  na- 
tive commonwealth  with  zeal  to  lead  the  way  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  true  union  of  the  states,  he  poured  out  his  heart  to 
his  early  friend  George  Mason :  "  Our  present  distresses  are 
so  great  and  complicated  that  it  is  scarcely  within  the  powers 
of  description  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  them.     With  regard 
to  our  future  prospects,  unless  there  is  a  material  change  both 
in  our  civil  and  military  policy,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  contend 
much  longer. 

"  We  are  without  money ;  without  provision  and  forage, 
except  what  is  taken  by  impress;  without  clothing;  and 
shortly  shall  be,  in  a  manner,  without  men.     In  a  word,  we 


Iflfi 


4:50    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE.    ei'.  iv.  ;  on.  xxix. 

have  lived  upon  expedients  till  wo  can  live  no  longer.  Tlie 
history  of  tliis  war  is  a  history  of  temporary  duvicea  instead 
of  system,  and  economy  which  results  from  it. 

"If  we  mean  to  continue  our  struggles  (and  it  is  to  l)e 
hoped  wc  shall  not  relinquish  our  claims),  we  must  do  it  upon 
an  entire  new  plan.  We  must  have  a  permanent  force ;  not 
a  force  that  is  constantly  fluotuating  and  sliding  from  under 
us,  as  a  ]wdestal  of  ice  \vould  leave  a  statue  on  a  summer's 
day ;  involving  us  in  expense  that  haffles  all  calculation— an 
expense  which  no  funds  are  equal  to.  We  must  at  the  same 
time  contrive  ways  and  means  to  aid  our  taxes  by  loans,  and 
put  our  linances  upon  a  more  certain  and  stable  footing  than 
they  are  at  present.  Onr  civil  government  must  likewise  un- 
dergo a  reform ;  ample  powers  nmst  be  lodged  in  congress  as 
the  head  of  the  federal  union,  adequate  to  all  the  purposes  of 
war.     Unless  these  things  are  done,  our  efforts  will  be  in  vain." 

"  To  accelerate  the  federal  alliance  and  lead  to  the  happy 
establishment  of  the  federal  union,"  conprcss  urged  on  the 
states  a  liberal  surrender  of  their  territorial  claims  in  the  West ; 
and  it  provided  "  that  the  western  lands  which  might  be  ceded 
to  the  United  States  should  be  settled  and  formed  into  distinct 
repubhcan  states,  that  should  become  members  of  that  federal 
union,  and  have  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty,  freedom,  and 
independence  as  the  other  states."  On  the  li'fth  of  October, 
in  words  drafted  by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  it  adhered  with 
hearty  good-will  to  the  principles  of  tlie  armed  neutrality,  as 
set  forth  by  Russia.  By  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  states  it 
sought  to  quiet  the  discontent  among  the  ofticers  in  the  army 
by  promising  them  half-pay  for  life.  But,  to  relieve  the  em- 
barrassments of  the  moment,  it  was  helpless. 

On  the  fourth  of  November  congress  once  more  distributed 
among  the  sevenil  states  a  tax  of  six  millions  of  silver  dollars, 
to  be  paid  partly  in  specific  articles.  "  It  is  now  four  days," 
wrote  Glover  to  Massachusetts  on  the  eleventh  of  December, 
"since  your  line  of  the  army  has  eaten  one  mouthful  of  bread. 
We  have  no  money ;  nor  will  anybody  trust  us.  The  best  of 
wheat  is  at  this  moment  selling  in  the  state  of  New  York  for 
three  fourths  of  a  dollar  per  bushel,  and  your  army  is  starving 
for  want.     On  the  first  of  January  something  will  turn  up,  if 


'.  IV. ;  oil.  XXIX. 


1780-1781. 


STRIVING  FOR  UNION. 


451 


When  congress,  in  September  1770,  h.d  transferred  the 
enhstment  of  troops  to  tlie  states,  the  new  recruits  were  to 
bind  themselves  to  serve  for  the  war;  but  in  some  eases  the 
enhstment  was  made  "for  three  years  or  for  the  war;"  and 
three  years  had  passed  since  that  time.     In  tlie  nio-ht  of  the 
first  of  January  1781,  a  part  of  tlie  Pennsylvania  line,  at  Mor- 
ristown,   composed   in  a  large  degree  of   new-comers  from 
Ireland,  revolted,  and,  under  the  lead  of  their  non-comnds- 
sioned  ofliccrs,  marched  with  six  field-pieces  to  Princeton.    The 
vvant  of  clothes,  of  food,  and  of  pay  for  nearly  a  year,  and  the 
compulsion  imposed  upon  some  of  them  to  remain  in  service 
beyond  the  three  years  for  which  they  believed  they  had  en- 
gaged were  extremities  which  they  would  no  longer  endure 

Informed  of  the  mutiny,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  passed  over'to 
fetaten  Island  with  a  body  of  troops  for  its  su]>port ;  but  two 
emissaries  whom  he  sent  to  them  with  tempting  offers  were 
given  up  by  the  mutineers,  and  after  trial  were  hanged  as  spies. 
Keed,  the  president  of  Pennsylvania,  repairrd  to  the  s^ot, 
though  It  was  beyond  his  jurisdiction;  and,  without  authorit^ 
and  without  due  examination  of  each  case,  he  discharged  those 
who  professed  to  have  served  out  their  specified  term,  while 
measures  were  tr.^n  by  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  to  clothe 
and  pay  the  rest.  Thoy,  for  the  most  part,  obtained  no  more 
than  was  due  them;  but  it  was  of  e^dl  tendency  that  they 
gained  it  by  a  revolt.  "^ 

In  a  circular  letter  to  the  New  England  states,  of  which 
Knox  was  made  the  bearer,  Washington  laid  open  the  ag^.ra- 
vated  calamities  and  distresses  of  the  army.     «  Without  relief 
the  worst,"  he  said,  "that  can  befall  us  may  be  expected.     I 
will  continue  to  exert  every  means  I  am  possessed  of  to  pre- 
vent  an  extension  of  the  mischief;  but  I  can  neither  foretell 
nor  be  answcral)le  for  the  issue." 
_   Troops  of  New  Jersey,  whose  ranks  next  to  the  Pennsylva- 
nia Ime  included  the  largest  projiortion  of  foreign-l)orn,  showed 
signs  of  being  influenced  by  the  bad  example  ;  but  Washlno-ton 
interposed.     The  twenty  regiments  of  New  England  in^'the 
continental  service  had  equal  reasons  for  discontent;  but  they 


'l''^* 

! 

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452    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    kimv.;  on.xxix. 


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were  almost  every  one  of  tliein  iiiitivc  American  freeholders 
or  their  sons.  A  detachment  of  them,  marching  through  deep 
snows  and  over  mountainous  roads,  ri'])ressed  the  incipient  re- 
volt. The  passions  of  the  a^-my  were  suhdued  by  their  patriot- 
ism ;  and  order  and  discipline  returned.  "Human  patience 
has  its  limits,"  wrote  Lafayette  to  his  wife  on  the  occasion  • 
"  no  European  army  W(juld  snlTer  the  tenth  part  of  what  the 
American  troops  Buller.  It  takes  citizens  to  su])port  huinrer 
nakedness,  toil,  and  the  total  want  of  pay,  which  constitute  the 
condition  of  our  soldiers,  the  hardiest  and  most  patient  that  are 
to  be  found  in  the  world." 

Knox  rc>ported  from  New  England  zealous  efFoi'ts  to  enlist 
men  for  the  war.  Congress  could  do  nothing,  and  confessed 
that  it  could  do  nothing.  "  AVe  have  recpiired,"  thus  it  wrote 
to  the  states  on  the  tifteenth  of  January  1781,  "aids  of  men 
provisions,  and  money;"  "the  states  alone  have  authority  to 
execute."  For  the  moment,  nothing  remained  for  the  United 
States  but  to  api)eal  to  France  for  rescue,  not  from  a  forcitm 
enemy,  but  from  the  evils  consecpicnt  on  their  own  want  of 
government.  It  was  therefore  resolved  to  despatch  to  Ver- 
sailles as  a  special  agent  some  one  who  had  lived  in  the  midst 
of  the  ever-increasing  distresses  of  the  army,  to  set  them  before 
the  government  of  France  in  the  most  striking  light.  Hamil- 
ton, the  fittest  man  for  the  office,  was  passed  over,  and  the 
choice  fell  on  the  younger  Laurens  of  South  Carolina. 

To  him  Washington  .nfided  a  statement  of  the  condition 
of  the  country ;  and  with  dignity  and  candor  avowed  that  it 
had  reached  a  crisis  out  of  which  it  could  not  rise  by  its  o^vn 
unassisted  strength.  "  Without  an  innnediate,  ample,  and  effi- 
cacious succor  in  money,"  such  were  his  words,  "we  may  make 
a  feeble  and  expiring  elTort  in  our  next  campaign,  in  all  prob- 
ability the  period  of  our  opposition.  Kext  to  a  loan  of  money, 
a  constant  naval  superiority  on  these  coasts  is  the  object  most 
interesting ; "  and  without  exaggeration  ho  ex])lained  the  rapid 
advancement  of  his  country  in  population  and  prosperity,  and 
the  certainty  of  its  redeeming  in  a  short  term  of  years  the  com- 
paratively inconsiderable  debts  it  might  have  occasion  to  con- 
tract.  To  Franklin  he  WTote  in  the  same  sti-aiu ;  and  Lafayette 
addi'cssed  a  like  memorial  to  Vergennes. 


.m-i-. 


'.  IV.;  on.rxix. 


1781. 


STRIVING  FOR  UNION. 


468 


The  people  of  the  United  States,  in  i)roportion  to  numbers 
were  richer  than  tlio  people  to  whose  king  tliey  were  ol)li"'cd 
to  appeal.  Can  Louis  XVI.  organize  the  resources  of  France 
and  is  republican  America  inca])ablo  of  drawing  forth  its  own? 
Can  monarchy  alone  give  to  a  nation  unity '^  Is  freedom  nec- 
essarily anarchical  ?  Ai-e  authority  and  the  hopes  of  humanity 
forever  at  variance?  Are  the  United  States,  who  so  excel  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Old  World  in  liberty,  doomed  t(j  hopeless  in- 
feriority in  respect  of  administration  ?  For  the  eye  of  Robert 
E.  Livingston,  then  the  most  influential  member  from  New 
York,  Washington  traced  to  their  source  the  evils  under  svhich 
the  country  was  6iid<ing.  "  There  can  bo  uo  radical  cure," 
wrote  he,  "  till  congress  is  vested  by  the  several  states  with  full 
and  ample  powers  to  enact  laws  for  general  purposes,  and  till 
the  executive  business  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  able  and  re- 
61)onsible  men.     Requisitions  then  will  be  supported  by  law." 

In  congress  itself,  on  the  third  of  February,  Witherspoon 
of  New  Jersey,  seconded  by  Ihirhe  of  North  Carolina,  proposed 
to  clothe  that  body  with  authority  to  regidate  commerce  and 
to  lay  duties  upon  imported  articles.  The  proposition  was  so 
far  accepted  that  it  was  resolved  to  ],e  indispensably  necessary 
for  the  states  to  vest  a  jiower  in  congress  to  levy  a  duty  of  five 
per  cent  on  importations  of  articles  of  foreign  growth  and 
manufacture.  Yet,  before  that  measure  could  become  valid, 
the  separate  approval  of  each  one  of  the  thirteen  states  must 
be  gained. 

The  assent  of  Yirginia  was  ju-omptly  given.  That  groat 
commonwealth,  having  Jefferson  for  its  governor,  earnestly 
sought  to  promote  peace  and  union.  To  hasten  peace,  it  even 
instructed  its  delegates  in  congress  to  surrender  the  right  of 
navigating  the  Mississippi  river  below  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north  latitude,  provided  Spain  in  return  would  guarantee 
the  navigation  of  the  river  above  that  parallel.  I^Tadison,  obey- 
ing tlie  instruction,  voted  for  the  measure  contrary  to  his  pri- 
vate judgment.  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  North  Caro- 
lina alone  opposed.  New  York  being  di^aded.  Yirginia  did 
more.  Avowing  her  regard  for  a  "federal  union,"  and  pre- 
ferring the  good  of  the  country  to  every  object  of  smaller  im- 
portance, she  resolved  to  yield  her  title  to  the  lands  north-west 


^' 

'11   Y 

111 

I 

( 


f     ' 


454    AMEUIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,     ep.i-.  ;  on.  xxix 

of  tlic  Oliio,  oil  ctnulition  tliat  tliey  slioukl  be  formed  into 
distinct  repul)lic;in  states,  and  be  iubiiitted  irmmbers  of  the 
federal  union;  and  Jflferson,  ulio  frt>in  the  first  hud  pledged 
himself  to  the  measure,  announeed  to  congress  thio  great  act  of 
Ins  administration  in  a  letter  full  of  hope  for  the  com])lL'tion  of 
tho  American  union,  and  the  establishment  of  free  republics  in 
the  vabt  country  to  which  Virginia  (juitted  her  clai'u. 

The  first  day  of  March  1781  was  a  great  day  in  tho  history 
of  the  country.  ]\[aryland,  last  of  ibe  states,  subscribed  the 
articles;  and  "the  United  States  of  America,  each  and  every 
of  the  thirteen,  adopted,  conllrmed,  and  ratiiied  their  confed- 
eration and  })erpetual  luuon." 

The  states  of  the  United  States,  in  establishing  the  con- 
federation, established  no  government.  In  the  draft  of  Dick- 
inson, tlio  ccmfederation  was  an  alliance  of  sovereigns:  every 
change  in  it  increased  the  relative  power  of  the  states.  The 
orlgiiud  report  permitted  each  of  them  to  impose  duties  on 
imports  and  exports,  provided  they  did  not  interfere  with 
stipulations  in  treaties  ;  this  restriction  was  conlined  to  the 
treaties  already  pro])osed  to  France  and  Spain.  Xo  power  to 
prohibit  tlie  slave-trade  was  granted.  lu  troops  raised  for  the 
common  defence,  the  appointment  of  field  and  inferior  ollicers 
was  reserved  to  the  several  states.  Congress  was  in  future  to 
be  chosen  annually,  and  on  every  first  Monday  of  Kovernber 
to  organize  itself  anew.  A  majority  of  the  states  present  had 
thus  far  decided  every  question ;  the  confederation,  which 
forthwith  took  effect,  required  the  presence  and  assent  of  seven 
states,  an  absolute  majorit}'  of  all,  to  decide  even  the  most  tri- 
fling motion,  and  of  nine  states — that  is,  two  thirds  of  all — to 
carry  every  important  measure  of  peace  or  war,  of  treaties  or 
finance. 

Further,  each  state  retained  its  sovereignty  and  every  attri- 
bute not  exjjressly  delegated  to  the  United  States ;  and,  by  tlie 
denial  of  all  incidental  powers,  the  exercise  of  the  granted 
powers  was  rendered  impracticable.  By  the  articles  of  confed- 
eration, congress  alone  had  tlie  right  to  treat  with  foreign 
nations  ;  but  it  provided  no  method  for  enforcing  treaties,  so 
that  the  engagements  on  the  part  of  the  nation  might  be  vio- 
lated at  the  will  of  any  one  of  its  members. 


;  oil.  XXIX. 


1781. 


STnrV[N(}    FOR  UNION. 


455 

CnurrrvBs  wao  to  defray  oxpenses  for  tlio  coiunion  defenco 
or  goiuTul  wc'll'aro  out  of  a  coininou  treasury  ;  but  tliero  was 
no  indepon.U'iit  treasury  ;  tlio  taxes  were  to  be  laid  and  levied 
by  the  legislatures  of  the  wneral  states.  ]\roreover,  the  (piotas 
of  the  states  were  to  be  a^sigiu-d  in  proportion  to  tlie  value  of 
all  real  estate  within  each  state,  and  that  value  each  state  was 
to  estimate  for  itself.  (Congress,  whicf.  had  no  direct  power 
to  levy  any  money  whatever,  cjould  not  even  assign  to  the 
states  -hen-  .piotas  till  every  one  of  the  thirteen  should  havo 
conij.ieted  its  valuation.  The  states  might  tux  imj.orts  as  mncli 
as  they  pleased ;  congress  could  not  tax  them  at  all.  It  could 
declare  war,  but  had  not  power  to  bring  a  single  citizen  into 
the  (leld. 

The  states  of  America  had  formed  not  a  nnion  but  a  con- 
federation, which  acted  not  on  individuals  but  only  ou  each 
separate  sovereignty ;  room  for  amend.nent  seemed  to  be  pro- 
vided  for;  but  an  amendment cotdd  not  take  place  without  tho 
simultaneous  consent  of  every  member  of  the  league.  With 
every  day,  men  would  grow  more  attached  to  their  separate 
states;  for  many  of  these  had  the  best  goveniments  in  the 
world,  while  the  confederation  was  one  of  the  worst,  or  was 
rather  no  government  at  all. 

Washington  was  the  first  to  perceive  the  defects  of  tho 
confederation,  and  the  first  to  urge  its  reform.  On  the  day 
before  it  was  adopted  he  had  explained  to  a  young  member  of 
the  Virginia  legislature  "  the  necessity  of  a  controlling  power 

regulate  and  direcit  all  matters  of  general  concern.     The 
•  business  of  war,"  he  said,  "  never  can  be  well  conducted, 
-n  be  conducted  at  all,  while  the  powers  of  congress  are 
^commendatory.     Our  independence,  our  respectability 
...^  ..nsequencc  in  Furope,  our  greatness  as  a  nation  hereafter, 
depend  upon  vesting  congress  with  competent  powers.     That 
body,  after  hearing  the  views  of  the  several  states  fairly  dis- 
cussed, must  dictate,  and  not  merely  recommend." 

The  position  of  the  commander-in-chief  rerpiired  of  him 
unceasing  caution.  Intrusted  with  the  conduct  of  the  war,  no 
one  could  see  so  clearly  the  absolute  necessity  of  clothing  the 
confederation  with  coercive  powers  over  its  members ;  but  the 
vigorous  recommendation  of  the  change,  proceeding  from  tho 


i^"  ■ , 


iv  i 


ri 


t 


II 


fi   ,! 


450    AMKUIOA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITU  FRANCP:.    ki-.  iv. ;  en.  xxr, 


{'•V 


m 


R:  > 


btiiiu  of  the  army  that  in  the  litst  resort  would  bo  the  instru- 
ment of  coiTfioii,  would  have  iaerea'^ed  and  a[)parently  jiirMfied 
c.ou^resa  in  its  jealousy  of  the  eairip.  AVhile,  therefore,  he 
wished  to  support  his  opinion  by  all  the  inlluence  whieh  he 
could  wield,  he  sought  to  do  it  ho  circumspectly  ab  to  awaken 
no  fear  of  military  dictation  or  a  baneful  employment  of  force. 
The  olfico  of  preparing  a  code  of  laws  for  Virgbda,  and 
adai)ting  them  to  her  new  relations,  had  been  definitively  con- 
fided to  Pendleton,  Wythe,  and  Jeilerson.  No  sooner  had  a 
groundwork  for  national  reform  been  laid  by  the  ucceptance  of 
the  confederation,  than  Washington  addi'cssed  to  these  three 
greatest  civilians  of  his  native  commonwealth  the  most  earnest 
arguments  and  entreaties  that  the  numner  of  coercing  a  refrac- 
tory or  delincpien''  state  might  be  clearly  laid  down,  and  the 
defects  of  Jie  arti  'es  of  confederation  be  seasonably  consid- 
ered and  remedied,  "Danger,"  he  added,  "may  priug  from 
delay ;  good,  from  a  timely  application  of  a  remedy.  The 
present  temper  of  the  '.tates  is  friendly  to  the  establishment  of 
a  lasting  union  ;  the  moment  should  be  improved  :  if  suffered 
to  pass  away,  it  may  never  return ;  and,  after  gloriously  and 
successfully  contending  against  the  usurpations  of  Eritain,  we 
may  fall  a  prey  to  our  own  follies  and  disputes." 

He  was  more  particularly  impelled  to  express  his  opinions 
with  freedom,  because,  in  December  1779,  the  legislature  of 
Virginia  seemed  to  have  censured  the  idea  of  enforcing  obe- 
dience to  requisitions.  "  It  would  ^jive  me  concern,"  he  added, 
"  should  it  be  thought  of  me  that  I  am  desirous  of  eidarging 
the  powers  of  congress  unnecessarily,  as  I  declare  to  God  my 
only  aim  is  the  general  good.  A  knowledge  that  this  power 
was  lodged  in  congress  might  be  the  means  to  prevent  its  ever 
being  exercised,  and  the  more  readily  induce  obedience ;  indeed, 
if  congress  was  unquestiona jly  possessed  of  the  power,  nothing 
should  induce  the  display  of  it  but  obstinate  disobedience  and 
the  urgency  of  the  general  welfare." 

Of  this  paper  a  copy  was  taken  by  Joseph  Jones  of  King 
George,  to  whom  Washington  had  already  expressed  himself 
"  in  plain  language."  This  copy  Jones  confided  to  Madison,  his 
colleague  in  congress,  leav^ig  him  to  draw  his  own  inference 
witli  regard  to  its  author.     The  confederation  was  but  a  month 


y- 


IJ) 


I'jj 


^ 


1781. 


fi'IilVLNG  FOR   UNION-. 


457 


and  a  hr.lf  oV  \.  .,i.^  a  coniniitteo  of  congress  presented  u  ro- 
prn-t  drafted  y  JVliiJison,  exiiccly  iu  couturiuity  to  this  advice 
of  Wiislilwgtoii,  and,  as  I  believe,  in  cun.soqu'ence  of  it,  i)ro. 
posing  by  "an  amendment  to  the  article,s  of  C(.nfL'(k'ration  to 
give  to  the  United  States  full  authority  to  employ  thuir  force, 
as  well  by  sea  as  by  land,  to  comj  '  any  delintpient  state  to 
fulfil  its  federal  engngjnients;"  and  the  reason  for  the  mea.suro 
as  assigned  in  the  preamble  was  "to  cem-nt  am  invigorate 
the  federal  union,  that  i*-  might  be  established  on  the'^morit 
immutablo  basis."  In  this  manner  the  idea  of  granting  to  fhe 
United  States  power  to  coerce  a  delincpient  or  refracto'iy  state 
entered  the  hall  of  congress,  strajge  and  as  yet  unwelcome  and 
di-eaaed,  yet  never  to  die. 

Tlie  delicacy  and  importance  of  the  subject  inspired  Madi- 
son,  the  author  of  the  report,  with  the  wish  to  obtain  from 
Jeflerson,  now  governor  of  Virginia,  and  one  of  those  to  whom 
Washington  had  addressed  his  paper  of  advice  and  (intreaty,  a 
judgir;£it .  n  the  measure,  befo -e  it  should  undergo  the  final 
decisic;:  of  congress.    He  therefore,  on  the  sixteenth  of  April, 
represented  to  Jefferson  the  arming  of  congress  with  coercive 
p(nvers  as  a  necessity,  arising  from  the  slu-meful  dc^Hciency  of 
some  of  the  states  most  cajiable  of  yielding  their  apportioned 
supplies,  and  the  military  exactions  to  which  others,  already  ex- 
hausted by  the  enemy  and  their  own  troops,  were  in  conse- 
quence subjected.     "  The  expediency,"  he  added,  «  of  m.ildng 
tlie    proposed   application  to   the    states  will  depend  on  the 
probability  of  their  complying  with  it.     If  they  should  refuse, 
congress  will  be  in  a  worse  situation  than  at  present ;  for  as 
the  confederation  now  stands,  and  according  to  the  nature  even 
of  alliances  ranch  less  intimate,  there  is  an  implied  right  of 
coercion  against  the  delinrpicnt  party,  and  the  exercise  of  it  by 
congress  whenever  a  palpable  necessity  occ^irs  will  probaljly  be 
acipiiesced  in."     The  instrument  of  coercion  which  ho  'pre- 
ferred was  X  navy. 

No  answer  of  Jefferson  to  these  inquiries  has  been  found ; 
his  opin'ons,  as  declared  at  a  later  period  of  the  confederacy, 
coincide  with  those  of  ^ladison,  who  from  that  time  strove 
without  rest  to  establish  an  efficient  system  of  government  for 
the  states  in  union.     In  May  Le  continued  to  discuss  with 


>  I  r 


If     Hi: 


,1    .« 


•  j-  I-  \ 


h>\ 


J^ 


?l 


I'- 


WA-l\ 


^1 


458    AMERICA  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  FRANCE,    ep.iv.;  oh.xxix. 

Pendleton  by  letters  the  proper  metliods  of  investing  congress 
with  new  resources ;  but  no  reflecting  and  far-seeing  observer 
of  its  relative  strength  dared  hope  that  its  members  would  be 
able  to  remodel  the  confederacy. 

While  the  American  people  met  obstructions  on  every  side 
as  they  slowly  sounded  their  way  to  an  ethcicnt  union,  Wash- 
ington on,  th(i  lirst  day  of  May  1781,  made  a  note,  that  instead 
of  magazines  they  had  but  a  scanty  pittance  of  provisions,  scat- 
tered here  and  there  in  the  different  states,  and  poorly  pro- 
vided arsenals  which  the  workmen  were  leaving.  The  arti- 
cles of  field  equipage  were  not  ready,  nor  funds  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  regular  transportation.  Scarce  any  one  of  the 
states  had  as  yet  sent  an  eighth  part  of  its  quota  into  the  field ; 
and  there  was  no  prospect  of  an  active  offensive  campaign, 
unless  their  generous  ally  should  help  them  with  money  and 
with  a  fleet  strong  enough  to  secure  the  superiority  at  sea. 


\>1 


^M^ 

J 

>#a 

if 

Jib 

lin 

i 

' 

1  ''' 

i 

i. 

THE 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION 

IN  FIVE  EPOCRS. 

EPOCH  FIFTH. 

THE    PEOPLE  OF  AMERICA    TAKE  THEIR    EQUAL    STATIOBJ 
AMONG  THE  POWERS  OF  THE  EARTH. 

From  1780  to  December  1783. 

VOL.  v.— 31 


X    iM' 


i      1 


!.ii' 


mi 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


i    hi 


VI 


CHAPTER  I. 

FRANCE  HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE. 

1T80-1781. 

The  consummation  of  peace  between  Gi-eat  Britain  and 
tlie  United  States  of  America  was  tlie  sublime  result  of  pow- 
ers wliich  were  conspiring  together  for  the  renovation  of  the 
world.     The  United  States  wero  without  a  government,  with- 
out a  revenue,  with  only  the  remnants  of  an  army  which  it 
could  not  recruit,  nor  pay,  nor  properly  feed  or  clothe,  and 
they  were  constant  suitors  to  the  Bourbon  kings  for  aid.    They 
wore  engaged  with  Great  Britain  in  a  war  which,  as  it  pro- 
ceeded, had  involved  the  interests  of  two  absolute  monarchs 
and  the  rising  republic  so  closely  that  no  one  of  them  could 
make  a  good  peace  for  itself  without  a  general  peace.     Spain 
had  calculated  everything  for  a  single  campaign.*    The  cove- 
nanted   invasion   of  England    having  failed,   the  querulous 
Iviiig   Charles,  after  but  seven   months  of   hostilities,  com- 
plained "  that  France  had  brought  Spain  into  the  war  iov  its 
own  interests  alonc,t  and  had  caused  the  first  mishaps"  to 
his  flag. :{:      Floi-ida  Blanca,  speaking  to  the  French  aml)as- 
sador,  called  himself  a  great  fool  for  having  induced  his  king 
to  the  declaration  against  England.     He  was  ready  to  assent 
to  the  division  of  Turkey  between  Austria  and  Russia,   if 

*  Jrontmorin  to  Vergenncs,  13  May  1780. 
f  Montmorin  to  VerRcnnes,  9  January  1 180. 
t  Montmorin  to  Vcrgeunes,  26  June  1780. 


462 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 


Kn.  v.;  cii.i. 


',  1 


,fit 


I 


' 


f 


(I 


tliese  two  powers  would  but  conform  as  inediiitors  to  Lis  plan 
of  peace.  Vorgonut'S  iullexibly  asserted  tluit  Frarice  was  held 
in  honor  to  sustain  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
but  that  their  boundaries  were  contingent  on  events.*  Kiuff 
Charles  desired  to  retain  the  United  States  in  some  Idiid  of  vas- 
salage to  (Ireat  Ifritain,t  or  give  them  np  to  helpless  anarchy.  ± 
lie  would  not  receive  Jay  as  their  envoy,  and  even  declined  a 
visit  from  the  late  minister  of  France  at  Philadelphia,  who 
passed  through  !^[adrid  on  his  way  home  from  his  mission. 
It  was  the  constant  reasoning  of  Florida  Blanca  that,  if  Ameri- 
can independence  was  to  be  granted,  it  must  be  only  on  such 
terms  as  would  lead  to  endless  quarrels  between  America  and 
England;^  that  the  northern  colonies  preserved  a  strong  at- 
tachment for  their  mother  country,  and,  if  once  possessed  of 
independence,  would  become  her  helpful  ally;  while,  if  they 
were  compelled  to  submit  to  her  rule,  they  would  be  only  tur- 
bulent subjects,  II  Tossed  by  danger  and  doubt  from  one  expe- 
dient to  another,  Spain,  through  the  government  of  Portugal, 
sought  to  open  a  secret  negotiation  with  England  ;  and  the  king 
of  France,  in  an  autograph  letter,  acquiesced  in  the  attempt.-^ 
On  the  other  hand,  an  unexpected  ally  offered  itself  to 
England.  No  sooner  had  Spain  declared  war  against  Eng- 
land than  by  Jesuits  in  Eome  it  was  privately  signified  to 
the  British  that  the  natives  of  Mexico  were  disaffected  to- 
ward their  government,  and  universally  hated  the  Sj)anish ; 
that,  since  the  suppression  of  the  order  of  the  Jesuits,  the 
Spanish  government  had  no  medium  of  control  over  the  na- 
tives; that  ex- Jesuits,  who  were  conversant  with  the  Mexi- 
can and  Peruvian  languages,  were  willing  to  use  their  su- 
perior influence  in  the  Spanish  colonies  in  favor  of  Great 
Britain,  and  to  take  any  hazard  if  assured  of  the  free  exer- 
cise of  their  leligion  ;  that  well-instructed  enaissarics  could  do 
more  than  a  military  force,  especially  if  they  might  prom- 
ise to  the  natives  the  choice  of  their  governor  and  magis- 

*  Compare  Vcrgonnos  to  5Iontmorin,  2'2  January  1781, 

f  Montmorin  to  Vergcnncs,  22  January  1780. 

J  Montmorin  to  Vergonncs,  22  February  1 780. 

**  Jloiitmorin  to  Vcrgennos,  29  March  1780. 

II  Montmorin  to  Vergcnni';-i,  20  November  1780. 

^  The  king  of  France  to  the  king  of  yijaiii,  25  April  1780. 


1780.  FRANCE  HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE.  463 

trates.  In  the  course  of  the  year,  Loi-d  Xorth  laid  before  tbe 
cabinet  a  plan  fur  an  expedition,  by  way  of  India,  to  the 
westei-n  coast  of  South  America,  and  it  was  approved ;  but 
peace  came  before  it  was  undertaken. 

The  nltinuituni  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  then- 
eventual   negotiation   with   Britain   for    peace,   unanimously 
adopted  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  August  1779,  set  forth  their 
rights  to  the  largest  boundaries  that  had  belonged  to  them 
during  their  dependence.     The  refusal  to  acknowledge  their 
"equal  common  rights  with  Canada  and  Ts'ova  Scotia  to  the 
lisheries  "  was  not  to  stand  in  the  way  of  i)eace,  but  the  claim 
cf  right  to  the  fisheries  was  not  to  be  surrendered,  and  was 
niade  a  sine  qua  non  in  any  ti-eaty  of  commerce  with  Great 
Britain.   Massachusetts  and  its  friends  in  congress  could  there- 
fore see  tlie  best  chance  of  securing  their  interests  by  the  elec- 
tion of  John  Adams  as  at  once  the  sole  negotiator  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  and  of  the  treaty  of  commerce  with  Britain.     They 
succeeded,  and,  in  February  1780,  John  Adams  arrived  in 
Pans  with  his  double  powers.     In  ''his  determination  to  take 
no  steps  of  consequence  in  pursuance  of  his  commissions  with- 
out coiLsulting  the  ministers  of  his  most  Christian  majesty,"  he 
asked  "the  opinion  and  advice"  of  Vergennes  if  it  was  pru- 
dent to  acquaint  the  British  ministry  with  his  readiness  to 
treat,  and  "  publish  the  nature  of  his  mission,  or  remain  on 
the  reserve."     The  French  minister  welcomed  him  to  France, 
but,  before  a  reply,  wished  to  become  b(;tter  acquahited  with 
the  nature  and  extent  of  his  connnission.    Adams  dechned  the 
hint  to  communicate  his  instructions,  but  gave  a  copy  of  his 
commissions.     Vergennes  advised  him  "  to  take  every  precau- 
tion that   the   British  ministry  may  not  have  a  premature 
knowledge  of  his  full  powers  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce;" his  character  in   regard  to  the   future  pacification 
would  bo  announced  in   France,  after  which  he  might  give 
it  greater  publicity  through  the  Dutch  journals.    Adams  ac- 
quiesced in  the  advice,  but  to  congress  he  confess(>d  that  if 
he  had  followed  his  own  judgment  he  should,  immediately 
after  his  arrival  in  Paris,  have  communicated  to  Lord  George 
(Jermain  his  full  powers  to  treat  both  of  peace  and  commerce.'* 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  iv.,  339,  301,  303,  3^0,  880,  388,  423,  443-446. 


Ml 


■{  i  ill 


464 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  OH.  I. 


*  ,  I 


\^-A^M 


On  the  fourteenth  of  IMarch  1780  the  house  of  eonimoiifi 
had  carried  against  tlic  ministry,  by  a  majority  of  eiglit  votes, 
a  resolution  to  abolish  rlic  board  of  trade  and  plantations — the 
board  whioh  for  nearly  a  century  had  led  the  way  in  all  the 
encroachments  on  colonial  freedom.  The  vote  and  the  statute 
which  followed  seemed  to  im})ly  that  Great  Britain,  even  in 
the  opinion  of  one  branch  of  its  own  legislature,  had  lost 
America;  and  it  certainly  put  an  end  to  a  board  of  advice 
which  would,  in  any  negotiation  for  peace,  have  cavilled  at 
every  article  promising  favor  or  even  moderation  to  the  an- 
cient colonies. 

The  British  government,  sup])orted  by  parliament,  con- 
tinued the  war  with  relentless  energy.  Yet  in  May  Adams  re- 
ceived an  informal  expression  of  a  wish  in  England,  that  he 
would  make  known  the  propositions  for  peace  which  the  United 
States  would  consent  to  offer.  This  vague  movement  for  a  sepa- 
rate negotiation  Adams  reported  to  Vcrgennes,  who  answered : 
"  If  the  views  are  exact,  list;ni  to  them  and  ascertain  what  over- 
tures it  is  expected  you  will  make."  Adams,  still  the  sole 
American  negotiator  with  England,  rejoined :  "  I  shall  make 
no  separate  eace.  Our  alliance  with  France  is  near  to  my 
heart ;  it  is  a  natural  alliance  and  a  rock  of  defence."  * 

On  the  twentieth  of  June,  Adams  incidentally  acrpiainted 
Vcrgennes  that  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  the  Ameri- 
can paper  money  had  been  called  in  by  congress  at  the  rate  of 
forty  for  one,  and  that  the  continental  ccrtliicates  were  to  be 
paid  oif  according  to  the  vahie  of  money  at  the  time  when  they 
were  respectively  issued.  The  next  day  Yergennes  answered 
that  strangers,  and  especially  the  French,  ought  to  be  excepted 
from  the  reduction.  On  the  twenty-second,  Adams,  in  reply, 
at  very  great  length  and  with  strange  logic,  insisted  that,  not 
from  necessity,  but  of  riglit,  the  reduction  must  affect  credit- 
ors of  all  nations.  The  ol)ligations  of  France  and  America  he 
held  to  be  mutual,  saying  of  France :  "  All  the  world  will  allow 
the  flourishing  state  of  her  marine  and  commerce,  and  the  de- 
cisive influence  of  her  councils  and  negotiations,  to  l)e  owing 
to  her  new  connections  with  the  United  States."  f    Yei-gennes, 

*  Diplomatic  Corrc?poiKioncc,  v„  8S,  8!l,  9'2. 
■j-  Dijilomatic  Cuncspomluiice,  v.,  '221. 


1780.  FRANCE   HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE.  4^5 

in  the  natne  of  the  king  of  France,  required  Franklin  to  tran* 
mit  this  correspondence  to  congress,* 

On  the  twenty-sixtli,  and  before  Adtirns  knew  of  the  ap- 
peal, he  gave  free  course  to  his  impulses,  and  wrote  to  the 
president  of  congress :  « Until  I  shall  be  forbidden  by  c.hi- 
gress,  I  am  determined  to  give  my  sentiments  to  his  maiestv's 
mimsters  whenever  they  shall  see  cause  to  ask  them,  altlioucdi 
It  IS  not  within  my  department."  The  next  day,  impp..„imr 
Frankhn,  he  added :  "  If  our  affairs  here  had  been  ur4d°with 
UB  much  skill  and  industry  as  they  might  have  been,  we  should 
at  this  moment  have  been  blessed  with  peace,  or  at  least  with 
a  total  expulsion  of  the  English  from  the  United  States  and 
the  West  India  islands."  f 

As  Yergennos  did  not  ask  for  the  sentiments  of  Adams 
he,  on  the  thirteenth  of  July,  +  forced  himself  upon  the  at- 
tention of  the  minister  as  though  he  had  been  accredited  to  the 
court  of  France.  "  I  was  piqued  a  little,"  he  wrote  at  a  later 
day;  and  he  purposely  used  in  his  official  letters  what  he  de- 
s(  ribes  as  "gently  tingling  expressions."  lie  pleaded  for  -the 
very  measure  which  Washington  and  all  America  most  de- 
sired, "a  clear  and  indisputable  superiority  of  naval  force" 
on  the  coast  of  America;  and  pointed  his  request  with  the 
words :  "  I  scruple  not  to  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  the  not 
keeping  a  superiority  there  through  the  year  will  disunite, 
weaken,  and  distress  us  more  than  we  should  have  been  dis- 
united, weakened,  or  distressed  if  the  alliance  had  never  been 
made."  * 

John  Adama  was  peiruaded  that  the  British  ministry  of  that 
day  had  no  serious  thought  of  peace  upon  terms  that  America 
w.uld  accept;!  ^nt  the  house  of  commons  was  al^out  to  be 
dissolved  ;  and,  on  the  seventeenth  of  Julv,  he  pleaded  with 
Vergennes  m  favor  of  communicating  to  England  his  full 
powers  respecting  peace  an<l  commerce  as  a  means  of  influ- 
encing the  coming  election.^ 

Vergennes  on  the  twenty-fifth  replied    to  him  jioint  by 

*  Diplomatio  Corrospondencc,  iii.,  152,  153. 

f  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  v.,  227,  230 

t  Dinlon,.at!n  Correspondcnp.,  v,  247.  i  Diplu.natic  Corrcspoiulonco,  v.,  286. 

Uiplomatic  Correspomlcucc,  v.,  258.  a  Diplomatic  Corrc.-poudcnec,  v,  207. 


I'    \}\ 


j     ''   ^li 

■'Mi 

1           •              I 

1    i'  ■  '  I 

I 

40G 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 


Ki'.  V. ;  on.  I, 


1      \ 


w  ]i 


Itr 


:   U' 


point,  "ud,  rcfcrriiifj^  hU  letter  to  ('oii<];ro?!s,  insisted  tliat,  till 
lie  kIiouIu  receive  their  order,  he  sliould  Kuspend  all  measures 
liaviiijLij  relation  to  tlic  English  ministry.'^'  The  next  day 
Adams  renewed  the  strife,  and  to  a  court  wliere  the  sanctity  of 
regal  power  formed  the  accepted  creed  he  laid  it  down  oj? 
p--  tain  that  "  in  this  intelligent  age  the  principle  is  well  agreed 
on  in  the  world  that  the  j)e()ple  have  a  right  to  a  form  of  gov- 
ernment according  to  their  own  judgments  and  inclinations." 
Nevertheless,  he  strongly  alHrmed  that  tlie  United  States  had 
not  the  most  distant  thought  of  departing  from  their  independ- 
ence or  their  alliance.f 

On  the  twenty-seventh  he  denied  the  statement  of  Ver- 
gonnes  relatingto  the  character  of  the  measures  which  the  king 
had  taken  to  sustain  the  American  cause,  and  added:  "I  am 
determined  to  omit  no  opjiortunity  to  communi(!ate  my  senti- 
ments to  your  excellency  in  person,  or  by  letter,  vathout  the 
intervention  of  any  third  person,"  that  is,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  Franklin,  the  only  accredited  minister  from  the 
United  States.  "I  shall  be  very  hapi)y,  and  thiidc  myself 
highly  honored,  to  give  my  poor  opinion  and  advice  to  his 
majesty's  ministers  upon  anything  that  relates  to  the  United 
States  or  the  connnon  canse,  Avhenever  they  shall  bo  asked." :{: 
On  the  same  day  on  which  he  dispatched  this  letter  he  left 
Palis  for  Amsterdam.*  His  correspondence  with  Yergennes 
was  communicated  by  that  minister  alike  through  Franklin 
and  through  the  French  envoy  at  Philadelphia  to  the  congress 
of  the  United  States,  with  the  plain  intimation  that  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  F^'ranee  if  a  person  of  a  more  conciliatory  temper 
should  be  employed  in  the  coming  negotiations  for  peace. 

In  midsummer  JMaurcpas,  from  eagerness  for  peace,  forgot 
himself  so  far  as  to  insinuate  his  wish  in  a  letter  to  Forth,  for- 
merly secretary  of  the  British  embassy  at  Paris.  Nothing  came 
of  the  overture.  "  Peace  will  be  a  great  good,-'  wrote  Marie 
Antoinette  to  her  mother ;  "  but,  if  our  enemii  ^  do  not  demand 
it,  I  shall  be  very  much  afflicted  by  a  humiliating  one."  ||  After 
the  capture  of  Charleston  and  the  rout  of  the  army  under 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  v.,  287.    X  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  v.,  301-304. 
f  Diplomatic  Correspondcucc,  v.,  801.     *  Diplomatic  Corrcspoudcncc,  v.,  307. 
I  Maria  Antoiuette  to  Maria  Theresa,  la  July  and  11  October  1780. 


;  U 


1780-1781.      FKANCK  HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE.        1G7 


Gates,  tljo  I^rlti.sli  parliament,  wliieli  camo  togetlior  in  Novora- 
bcr,  granted  all  the  denuinds  of  ti  u  niiiiistry  for  money  and 
for  men  by  vast  majorities ;  and  the  dread  of  outbreaks  in  the 
cities  of  England  gave  new  strength  to  the  government.  In 
this  state  of  ail'aii-s,  JSceker,  wIkj  was  ready  to  take  every- 
thing upon  himself,  on  the  first  of  December  1780  wrote 
clandestinely  to  Lord  North,  proposing  peace  on  the  basis  of 
a  truce  during  which  each  party  should  keep  possession  of  all 
that  it  had  accpiircd.  The  terms  thus  offered  were  those  which 
Verg'3nnes  had  always  rejected,  as  inconsistent  with  the  fidelity 
and  honor  of  France.  The  British  ministry  heeded  them  no 
further  then  as  a  confession  of  exhaustion  and  weakness ;  and 
it  has  already  been  related  how  at  the  time  they  closed  every 
gate  to  j)eace  by  the  overbeai-ing  spoliation  of  the  Dutch. 
"England,"  said  \'ergennes  in  the  last  days  of  December 
178(.),  "has  declared  war  against  the  Netherlands  from  ha- 
tred of  their  accession  to  the  neutrality ;  the  more  I  reflect, 
the  more  I  am  perj)lexed  to  know  whether  we  ought  to  be 
glad  or  sorry."  "  France  gained  another  partner  in  the  war, 
but  one  for  which  it  feared  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  an 
alliance.  It  was  a  new  obstacle  to  the  general  peace  which 
had  become  for  France  a  financial  necessity. 

In  January  1781,  Vci-gennes  said  of  Neckcr :  "  I  will  ex- 
press no  opinion  on  his  financial  operations;  but  in  all  other 
parts  of  the  administration  ho  is  short-sighted  and  ignorant.'" 
Called  to  the  conferences  of  the  ministers,  Necker,  in  his 
alarm  at  the  rapid  approach  of  financial  ruin,  continually 
dinned  into  their  ears  "  Peace !  peace ! "  "  Peace,"  replied 
Vergeunes  "  is  a  good  thing,  only  you  should  propose  the  means 
of  attaining  it  in  an  honorable  manner."  f  All  Paris  clamored 
for  peace.  France  was  drawing  nearer  to  inevitable  bank- 
ruptcy, its  debt  verging  upon  a  fourth  milliard.  The  king, 
like  Maurepas,  declared  that  he  was  tired  of  the  w^ar,  and 
that  it  must  be  finished  before  the  end  of  the  year.  ^  For 
success  in  negotiating  peace,  Vergennes  needed  mediation  or 
great  results  in  the  field.     Through  the  queen,  Sartine,  toward 


*  Vergennes  to  Montmorin,  25  and  27  December  1780. 
t  c'ouut  von  Mercy  to  Prince  Kaunitz,  21  January  1781. 
t  Mercy  to  Kuuuitz,  7  February  1781.     MS. 


1  I  ? 


■J<< 


MS. 


408 


TIIIC   yVMKUFCAN   UKVoMITIONT. 


<it.  I. 


Ill 


.■'f- 


»(' . 


9!' 


i1  i 


f  I 


the  ctid  of  llic  foriruT  _yc;ir,  li;i(|  Itccn  siipcrscMlcd  in  tlu'  niinis- 
try  of  the  iiiiiriiii!  I>y  tlic  Miminis  dc  ( 'iistrios,  and  the  iiiiltt'cllo 
Montbiircy  by  the  Manpiirt  dc  Sr^iir. 

Envn-oiK'd  hy  dilliculticH,  Vcr^i'iines  wouhl  have  hccMi  gliid 
of  a  coinproiiiirio  witli  Eii<j;Iaiid  on  tlur  basis  of  a  tnico  of  at 
least  twciily  years,  (biriiii^  which  Sontli  Carolina  and  (Jcori^ia 
might  ivniain  with  tlic  I'lnjjjlish  in  refuni  for  the  evacuation  of 
^'ew  York,  lie  had  sounckul  Wasliington  and  others  in  Airier- 
ica  on  tlie  snl>jcct,  and  tliey  all  had  repelled  tlic  idea.  "There 
arc  none  but  the  inedi;>tors,"  wroto  Ver<i;enne9,  "  who  could 
make  to  the  United  States  so  _i!jrievous  an  oiTer.  It  would  be 
hard  for  France  to  propose  it,  because  she  has  guaranteed  the 
independence  of  the  thirteen  states."  *  Kaunitz,  accordingly, 
set  In'niself  to  work  to  bring  on  the  nu'diation  of  Austria. 

In  the  month  of  April  young  Laurens  arrived  at  Vor- 
Hailles,  preceded  by  iniportuiuite  letters  from  Tlochambeau  and 
Lafa.yetto  to  the  ministry.  His  demand  was  for  a  loan  of 
twenty-live  million  livres  to  be  raised  for  the  United  States 
on  the  credit  of  the  king  of  France,  and  in  su[>[)ort  of  it  lie 
communicated  to  the  French  ministry  his  letter  of  advice  from 
Washington.  Fraidclin  had  lately  written:  "■If  the  new  gov- 
ernment in  America  is  unable  to  procure  the  aids  that  are 
wanted,  its  whole  system  may  be  shaken."  The  French  min- 
ister at  Philadelphia  had  reported  these  words  from  (}reone: 
"The  states  in  the  southern  department  may  struggle  a  little 
while  longer ;  but,  without  more  elfectual  support,  they  must 
fall."  AVashington  represented  immediate  and  efficacious  suc- 
cor from  abroad  as  indispensable  to  the  safi>ty  of  his  country ; 
but,  combined  with  maritime  superiority  and  "  a  decided  elTort 
of  the  allied  arms  on  this  continent,"  so  he  wrote,  "  it  would 
bring  the  contest  to  a  glorious  issue."  In  })ressing  the  demands 
of  congress,  its  youthful  envoy  said  menacingly  that  the  failure 
of  his  mission  niiii'lit  drive  the  Americans  back  to  light  once  more 
amiinst  France  in  the  anuies  of  Great  llritain.  VergenncB 
com])l:iiued  that  an  excessive  and  evei'-increasing  proportion  of 
the  burdens  of  the  war  was  thrown  upon  France  ;  yet  the  cabi- 
net resolved  to  go  far  in  complying  with  the  request  of  the 
United  States.     Franhlin  had  already  obtained  the  promise  of 

*  Vcrgcunea  to  Luzcmo,  1  February  1781. 


U 


1781.  rilANCE  HAS   UUGENT  NKKD  OF  I'EAOE. 


409 


tt  ^'!ft  (H  Hw  jiiillloiiH  of  livri'H  jirid  a  loan  of  four  niillloiiH; 
pecker  coiiscntcd  to  a  loan  of  ten  inilli(.ri.s  more,  to  bu  rairieU 
in  Holland  in  tlio  name  of  tlu!  kin^r  „t'  France. 

To  inauro  to  the  L'uited  States  the  eoniniiind  of  the  aea, 
<le  (JrasKe,  who  had  the  naval  command  in  Ameriea,  reeelvod 
orders  to  repair  from  the  AVest  Indie.s  to  the  north  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  and  conform  himself  to  the  counKeld  of  Wiushin-,^- 
tou  and  Ii()ehand)eaii.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ^'reat  expenwi 
of  rcinforein^r  Kochamhean  l>y  another  detachment  from  tiie 
Frencli  army  was  on  \V'ashin«rtorfH  recommendation  avoided; 
and  Ameriea  was  left  to  herself  to  find  men  forthestrnj^^gleon 
land;  but  lioehandx-au  recxMved  fresh  orders  to  regard  him- 
self as  the  commander  of  auxiliary  tn-ops,  and  to  j)iit  them  as 
well  as  himself  under  the  orders  of  Washington. 

Tlie  French  govermnent  would  have  gladly  intrusted  the 
dls])ursement  of  its  gift  of  six  millicms  to  the  sole  direction  of 
Wasldngtou  ;  but  such  a  trust  would  Iiave  roused  the  jealousy 
of  congress.  'J'hc  first  use  made  of  the  money  was  a  spend- 
thrift one.  Laurens  transferred  a  burdensome  contract  of 
South  Carolina  in  Holland  to  the  United  States,  paid  all  its 
arrears  out  of  the  French  gift  and  incurred  further  heavy  and, 
as  it  proved,  useless  opcnses. 

During  these  negotiations  Necker  asjjired  to  assume  tiie 
control  of  the  administration,  'rhe  octogenarian  Maurepas 
roused  himyelf  from  apathy,  and  quietly  let  him  know  that  the 
king  expected  his  resignation.  "  The  king  had  given  his  word 
to  support  mc,"  said  Necker,  in  recounting  his  fall,  "  and  1  am 
the  victim  of  having  counted  upon  it." 

Just  at  this  time  there  appeared  in  Paris  a  new  edition 
of  KaynaPs  philosophic  and  political  History  of  the  Two  In- 
dies, with  the  name  of  the  author  on  the  title-page.  His 
work  abounded  in  declamations  against  priestcraft,  nVonarchi- 
cal  power,  and  negro  slavery,  lie  described  the  [Jnited  States 
of  America  as  a  country  that  more  than  renewed  the  simple 
heroism  of  antiquity.  Here  at  last,  especially  in  New  Eng- 
land, was  found  a  land  that  knew  how  to  be  happy  "  ■  .thout 
kings  and  without  priests."  "  Philosophy,"  he  wi'ote,  "  desires 
to  see  all  governments  just  and  every  people  ha])py.  If  the 
love  of  justice  had  decided  the  c    -t  of  Yersailles  to  the  alli- 


i^k 


E^i^iH  kim 


■  *  ■      I 


470 


THE  AMi:iMCAN   IlEVOLUTION. 


Kl'.  v.;  (!ir.  I. 


<i  < 


'      ! 


<lr 


'.■'Hi 


^ 


aiieo  of  a  inmiarchy  with  a  j)eo])ln  (lefendin^  Its  liberty,  tho 
tirHt  article  of  its  treaty  with  tlie  United  States  should  have 
been,  that  all  opjjre.ssed  peophs  have  the  rijj^ht  to  rise  af^;iiiiHt 
tboir  oppressors."  The  advo(;ate-<;eneral  Se^ur  havinjn;  dniwn 
up  the  most  minatory  indictment  of  the  volnmcs,  Raynal  left 
tliem  to  be  burnt  by  the  hangman,  and  escaped  to  Hnllaiid. 

The  book  went  into  many  a  lii)rary,  and  its  proscrijitlou 
found  for  it  new  readers.  Its  principles  infiltrated  themselves 
through  all  classes  of  the  young  men  of  France,  even  of  (lie 
nobility.  Tho  new  minister  of  the  marine  had  in  the  army 
of  llochambeau  a  son,  and  sons  of  the  new  minister  of  war 
and  of  the  Duke  do  J3roglie  were  soon  to  follow.  liut  tho 
philosophers,  like  the  statesmen  of  France,  would  not  have  the 
United  States  become  too  great ;  they  rather  desired  to  pre- 
serve for  England  so  much  strength  in  North  America  that 
the  two  powers  might  watch,  restrain,  and  balance  each  other. 

Prince  Kaunitz,  in  i)rei)aring  preliminary  articles  for  the 
peace  congress  at  Vienna,  adopted  the  idea  of  Vergennes,  that 
the  United  States  should  be  re])resented,  so  that  direct  nego- 
tiations between  them  and  Great  Britain  might  proceed  slnml- 
tanoously  with  those  of  the  European  powers ;  and  his  pajjcr 
was  pronounced  by  Marie  Autoinetto  to  be  a  niaster])iece  of 
political  wisdom.  John  Adams  was  ready  to  go  to  Vienna,  but 
only  on  condition  of  being  received  by  the  mediating  powers 
as  the  plenipotentiary  of  an  independent  state;  Spain  shunned 
all  mediation,  knowing  that  no  mediator  would  award  to  her 
Gibraltar;  England  as  yet  M'ould  have  no  negotiation  with 
France  till  it  should  give  up  its  connection  with  America. 

Mortified  at  his  ill  success,  Kaunitz  threw  the  blame  of  it 
upon  the  unreasonable  pretensions  of  tho  British  ministry; 
and  Austria  joined  herself  to  the  powers  which  held  that  the 
British  government  owed  concessions  to  America.  lie  consoled 
his  emperor  for  the  failure  of  the  mediation  by  saying :  "  As 
to  us,  there  is  more  to  gain  than  bo  lose  by  the  continuation  of 
tho  war,  which  becomes  useful  to  us  by  the  mutual  exhaustion 
of  those  who  caiTy  it  on  and  by  the  commercial  advantages 
which  accrue  to  us  so  long  as  it  lasts."  * 

The  British  ministry  was  willing  to  buy  the  aUianco  of 

*  Kaunitz  to  Josepa  II.,  8  July  1781. 


I*.  V. ;  oil.  I. 

I)erty,  tUo 
)iil(l  liavo 
80  against 
ig  drawn 
aynal  luft 
tlland. 
ijscription 
lieniriclves 
en  of  tlio 
the  army 
:'r  of  war 
r.nt  the 
''  have  the 
jd  to  pro- 
erica  tliat 
ic'li  other. 
!S  for  the 
nnes,  that 
[•ect  nego- 
;cd  sinml- 
his  pajjcr 
!r])ieco  of 
lenna,  hut 
ig  powers 
I  shunned 
ird  to  her 
tioii  with 
}rica. 
anic  of  it 
ministry ; 
I  that  the 
3  consoled 
ing:  "As 
uiation  of 
xhaustion 
dvautages 

lllance  of 


1781.  FRANCE   HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE.  47; 

Catliarino  by  tho  cession  of  Minorca,  and  to  propitiate  .ToHcph 
by  opemng  the   Scheldt ;    but  they  scoffed  at  such   „.ea.!ro 
concessums,  a.ul  desired    htrgo  acjuisitions   in  tho    Kast  a"ud 
bcuth      (athannoconhl  not  conceive  why  F-ropo  should  bo 
unwilling  to  SCO  Christianity  rise  again  into  lifo  and  po  v,-  • 
on  tho  I{osi,horus,  and  gave  tho  hint  to  Austria  to  aciulro 
Itome.     Joseph  as],ired  to  gain  tho  Danube  to  Helgrade,  and 
all  the  coast  on  tho  Mediterranean  from  tho  southernmost  point 
of  tlio  (nilf  ot  Dnna  to  tho  T.orthermnost  coiists  of  tho  Adri- 
atic sparing  tho  possessions  neither  of  Turkey  nor  of  the  re- 
public of   Venice.     So  liussia  and  Austria  prepared  to  divide 
he  Onent  and  Italy  between  them,  knowing  that,  so  long  as 
the  war  lasted,  neither  France  nor  (ireat  Britain  could  interfere. 
^      Spam  Jiad  just  heard  of  an  insurrection  begun  ],y  ox-Jesuits 
m  Poni,  and  supportc'd  by  Tuinic  Amaru  who  claimed  descent 
from  tho  ancient  royal  family  of  tho  Incas.     But  the  first  re- 
ports were  not  alarming,  and  she  was  still  disposed  to  pursue 
a  separate   negotiation  with  (ireat  Britain.      The  suggestion 
of  Hillsborough  to  exchange  Gibraltar  for  Porto  Rico  was  re- 
jected by  Florida  Bianca;  and  Richard  Cumberland,  tho  Brit- 
^h  {^ent  at  Madrid,  having  nothing  to  propose  which  King 
Charles  was  willing  to  accept,  returned  from  his  fruitless  ex 
pedition.     It  was  known  to  the  British  cabinet   that  South 
America  was  disposed  to  revolt;    and  that  Chili  and  Peni 
wished  to  shake  oil  the  Spanish  yoke. 

The  results  of  the  campaign  outside  of  the  United  States 
were  indecisive.  The  French  again  made  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  recover  the  isle  of  Jersey.  Tho  garrison  of  Gibral- 
tar was  once  more  reduced  to  a  state  of  famine,  and,  ere  the 
middle  of  April,  was  once  more  relieved.  The  English  and 
Dutch  fleets  encountered  each  other  in  August  near  the  Dog- 
ger Bank,  and  for  three  hours  and  a  half  fought  within  mus- 
ket-shot. \  ictory  belonged  to  neither  party.  The  Dutch  bore 
away  for  the  Texel ;  Ilydo  Parker,  tho  British  admiral,  returned 
to  the  Kore,  to  rec<  'ye  a  visit  from  his  king,  and  on  the  plea 
of  age  to  refuse  to  serve  longer  under  so  feeble  an  administra. 
tion.  For  the  moment  the  name  and  fame  of  Ilyder  Ali 
spread  from  the  F/sore  through  ii  --ope  and  the  United  States. 
On  the  nmth  of  May,  Pcnsaeola,  after  a  most  gallant  defence, 


i- 


r\    ' 

:  mm 

;  1    J  !   ■ 

''  \            '     ! 

iiJ8^^!l  '■ . 

4V2 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION". 


BP.  V,  :  OH.  I. 


[>    I 


i'.l'i 


'■if. 


■ 


!  I 


i'i 


was  surrendered  to  the  Spaniards  ;  its  garrison,  promising  not 
to  serve  during  the  war  against  Spain  or  lier  allies,  was  left 
free  to  be  employed  against  the  United  States. 

The  year  1780  had  not  gone  by  when  congress  informed 
John  Adams  of  their  satisfaction  at  his  defence  of  their  reduc- 
tion of  the  value  of  the  paper  money  and  loan  certificates  of 
the  United  States.*  Congress  for  a  long  time  took  no  notice 
of  the  complaint  against  him  as  the  sole  plenipotentiary  for 
peace ;  but  France  and  America  were  uniting  in  preparations 
for  one  great  campaign  in  1781  that  should  assist  to  terminate 
the  war,  and  France,  in  June  of  that  year,  took  advantage  of 
the  necessities  of  her  ally  to  gain  a  control  over  the  negotiations 
that  might  follow.  The  commission  of  the  United  States  for 
peace  was  empowered  to  conduct  the  negotiation  under  the  me- 
diation of  the  emperor  of  Austria  and  the  empress  of  Russia. 
In  case  "  of  the  backwardness  of  Great  Britain  to  make  a  for- 
mal acknowledgment  of  independence,  it  was  at  liberty  to  agree 
to  a  truce,  provided  that  that  power  be  not  left  in  possession  of 
any  part  of  the  thirteen  United  States,"  Luzerne  insisted  on 
making  its  instructions  such  as  would  leave  the  negotiation 
of  both  countries  in  the  hands  of  the  king  of  France.  In 
repeated  interviews  with  a  special  committee  of  congress  he 
sounded  the  alarm,  that  a  war  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
might  disable  France  from  continuing  the  powerful  di\'er- 
sions  which  thus  far  had  been  the  salvation  of  the  United 
States,  so  that  Enghuid  would  be  left  at  liberty  to  fall  upon 
them  with  her  undivided  strength  ;  that,  while  in  their  ulti- 
matum they  should  include  every  concession  to  which  they 
could  ever  consent,  they  should  still  hope  that  at  the  peace 
France  would  procure  for  them  complete  satisfaction. 

On  the  eleventh  of  June  the  instructions,  as  amended  by 
Luzerne,  were  laid  before  congress  for  its  acceptance.  The 
commission  of  tlie  United  States  was  to  insist  on  no  points 
but  independence  and  the  validity  of  the  treaties  with  Louis 
X VI.  "  As  to  disputed  boundaries  " — that  is,  whether  New 
England  should  extend  to  the  Pcno!)scot  or  the  St.  Croix, 
whether  New  York  should  resign  all  lands  within  the  water- 
shed of  the  St.  Lawrence,  whether  the  republic  should  touch 
*  Journals  of  Congress,  iii.,  355. 


V.V 


1781.  FEANCE  HAS  URGENT  NEED  OF  PEACE. 


473 


the  Mississippi  or  stop  at  the  crest  of  the  Alleghanies— "  and 
as  to  other  particulars  "—that  is,  the  fisheries  and  the  com- 
pensation of  loyahsts  for  their  confiscated  property — it  was 
left  at  liberty  to  act  "as  the  state  of  the  belligerent"  France 
"  might  require."  For  this  purpose  it  was  charged  "  to  under- 
take nothing  in  the  negotiations  for  peace  or  truce  without 
the  knowledge  and  concurrence  of  the  ministers  of  France, 
and  ultimately  to  govern  themselves  by  their  advice  and 
opinion." 

These  amendments  were  debated  in  a  body  which  was  con- 
scious of  its  dependence  on  France  for  the  chances  of  victory 
in  the  coming  campaign ;  and  they  were  accepted  by  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  New  Jersey, 
all  of  which  were  wholly  or  in  part  held  by  the  enemy.  Jeni- 
fer, who  was  always  disinclined  to  an  extended  boundary,  was 
dragged  from  a  sick-bed  to  assist  in  casting  the  vote  of  Mary- 
land. The  seventh  vote,  which  was  still  needed,  was  sought 
in  New  England.  Luzerne  had  made  a  personal  appeal  to 
Huntington  of  Connecticut,  then  president  of  congress ;  but 
though  he  showed  great  moderation,  and  would  have  sacri- 
ficed the  western  lands  of  his  own  commonwealth  rather  than 
delay  the  peace,  neither  he  nor  Sherman  could  brook  the 
thought  of  tlie  British  sweeping  down  in  the  rear  of  the 
country  and  occupying  as  their  territory  the  lands  which  now 
form  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan.  But 
Sullivan,  who  had  borrowed  money  from  the  minister  of 
France,  secured  the  amendments  by  the  vote  of  his  state. 

^  The  committee  of  congress,  which  had  conferred  with  the 
minister  of  France,  next  reported  as  their  opinion  that  some 
persons  be  joined  with  John  Adams  in  negotiating  the  treaty 
of  peace ;  but,  when  tlie  question  came  to  be  taken,  congress 
proved  mindful  of  the  great  services  that  Adams  had  ren- 
dered the  country,  and  New  Jersey  by  the  vote  of  Wither- 
epoon,  and  Virginia  under  the  lead  of  ^Madison,  voted  with  all 
New  England  in  the  negative.*  The  honor  of  Adams  hav- 
ing thus  been  vindicated,  the  vote  was  reconsidere'l.  and,  on 
successive  ballots,  Jay,  Franklin,  Henry  Laurens,  and  Jeffer- 
son were  chosen  his  colleagues  in  the  commission.     In  the 

*  Compare  Witherspoon  in  New  Yoik  Historical  Collection  for  1878,  p.  99. 


4! 


;  1 


474 


THE  Ai^ERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  T. ;  OH.  I. 


iV 


hll, 


!!ll 


I    i 


!    I 


I  I' 


election  of  Fi-anklin,  Sullivan,  acting  in  concert  vitli  Luzerne, 
rendered  service. 

A  furtlicr  important  change  was  made.  Tlio  ultimatum 
of  America  of  tlie  fourteenth  of  August  1779,  for  peace,  cov- 
ered the  boundaries  but  not  the  lisheries.  The  instructions  of 
the  fifteenth  of  June  1781  inrluded  neitlier  of  the  two,  but 
the  instruction  of  August  1779,  making  the  fisheries  an  ulti- 
matum in  the  treaty  of  connnerce,  remained  unrevoked.  Madi- 
son, therefore,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June  17S1,  moved  that 
no  treaty  of  connnerce  should  be  made  with  Great  Britain  un- 
less, in  addition  to  the  fisheries,  it  embraced  in  the  ultimatum 
the  boundaries.  This  vote  was  lost  by  six  against  five.  To 
restore  impartiality,  Madison,  on  the  twelftli  of  July  1781, 
proposed  to  revoke  the  commission  given  to  John  Adams  for 
negotiating  a  treaty  of  commerce.  This  proposition  was  agreed 
to  by  eight  states  against  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut.  _ 

"Congress  have  done  very  well,"  wrote  John  Adams  to 
Franklin,  "  to  join  others  in  the  commission  for  jieace  who  have 
some  faculties  for  it.  My  talent,  if  I  have  one,  lies  in  making 
war."  "  The  measure  is  better  calculated  to  give  satisfaction 
to  the  people  of  America  in  all  parts,  as  the  commissioners  are 
chosen  from  the  most  considerable  places  in  that  country." 
From  the  wide  dissemination  of  the  principles  of  the  Ameri- 
can revolution  he  idready  saw  clearly  that  "  despotisms,  mon- 
archies, and  aristocracies  nmst  conform  to  them  in  some  de- 
gree in  practice,  or  hazard  a  total  revolution  in  religion  and 
government  throughout  all  Europe."  * 

The  kingdom  of  Ireland  had  been  subjected  to  all  the  re- 
strictions of  the  colonial  system,  and  others  of  its  own.  It 
now  gained  a  more  complete  emancipation  of  its  trade  through 
loyaltj  than  could  have  been  won  through  insurrection.  When 
the  tidings  from  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  arrived,  its  par- 
liament voted  that  "  it  heard  of  the  rebellion  with  abhorrence, 
and  was  ready  to  show  to  the  world  its  attachment  to  the  sacred 
person  of  the  king."  Lord  North  obtained  its  leave  to  employ 
four  thousand  men  of  the  Irish  army  for  service  in  America. 
That  army  should,  by  law,  have  consisted  of  twelve  thousand 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  vi.,  1C9,  150,  186. 


1781.  FRANCE   HAS   URGENT   NEED   OF   PEACE.  475 

men  ;  but  it  mustered  scarcely  more  tlmn  nine  thousand.     Out 
of    Iiese  the  strongest  and  best,  without  regard  to  the  pre- 
scribed  limitation  of  numbers,  were  selected ;  and  eiglit  regi- 
ments, all  that  could  be  formed,  were  shipped  across  the  At- 
lantic.     Ireland  itself  being   left  defenceless,  its  parliament 
offered  the  national  remedy  of  a  militia.     This  was  refused  by 
Lord  North ;  and,  in  consequence,  instead  of  a  force  organized 
and  controlled  by  the  government,  self-formed  bands  ot^ volun- 
teers started  into  being.     After  reflection,  the  militia  bill  waa 
sent  over  for  enactment ;  but  the  opportunity  had  been  missed ; 
the  Irish  parliament  had  learned  to  prefer  volunteer  corps  sup- 
ported by  the  Irish  themselves.     When,  in  1778,  it  appeared 
how  much  the  commissioners  sent  to  America  had  been  willing 
to  concede  to  insurgents  for  the  sake  of  reconciliation,  the 
patriots  of  Ireland  awoke  to  a  sense  of  what  they  might  de- 
mand.    Iheir  eader  ^v•as  Henry  Grattan,  who,  in  a  venal  age 
and  m  a  venal  house  of  commons,  was  hicon-uptible.     ^o  one 
heard  the  eloquence  of  Chatham  with  more  delight;  and  no 
oue  has  sketched  in  more  vivid  words  the  character  of  the 
greatest  Englishman  of  that  age.     At  the  opening  of  the  ses- 
sion of  October  1779,  Grattan,  then  but  thirty-three  years  of 
age,  and  for  hardly  four  years  a  member  of  the  house,  moved 
an  amendment  to  the  address,  that  the  nation  could  be  saved 
only  by  free  export  and  free  import,  or,  according  to  the  terser 
words  that  were  finally  chosen,  by  free  trade.     The  friends  of 
government  dared  not  resist  the  am,;ndnient,  and  it  was  carried 
unanimous  y.     New  taxes  were  refused.     The  ordinary  sup- 
pies,  usually  granted  for  two  years,  were  granted  for  six  months. 
Ihe  house  was  in  earnest;  the  people  were  in  earnest ;  an  in- 
extinguisJiable  sentiment  of  nationality  was  aroused  ;  and  fifty 
thousand  volunteers  stood  in  arms  under  ofiicers  of  their  own 
choosing.     Great  Britain  being  already  tasked  to  the  uttermost. 
Lord  North  gave  way,  and  i>ersuaded  the  British  parliament 
0  concede  the  claim  of  Ireland  to  commercial  equality  with 
Lugland  and  Scotland. 


•l  :i 


h     I, 


.\, 


VOL.  v.— 32 


'  ^HnB^raflH^' 


476 


TUE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  en.  II. 


' 


I   H 


iljaii  i 


:  .  ) 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  SOUTnERN  CAMPAIGN.     THE  SEPAltATE  COMMAND  OF  MORGAN. 

1780-1781. 

Congress,  on  the  sixteenth  of  Jnne  1780,  directed  "Daniel 
Morgan  of  the  Virginia  line,"  with  his  old  rank  of  colonel,  to 
be  "  employed  in  the  sonthern  army  as  Major-General  Gates 
should  direct."  Morgan  had  been  justly  aggrieved  at  tlie 
slight  recognition  by  Gates  of  liis  services  in  the  capture  of 
Burgoyne.  But,  when  he  heard  of  the  defeat  at  Camden 
and  the  dispersal  of  the  American  army,  lie  hastened  to  the 
scene  of  disaster,  and  before  the  end  of  September  arrived 
at  Hillsborough.  There  Gates  was  doing  all  that  he  could 
to  draw  together  the  remains  of  the  regular  army.  The  mi- 
litia of  North  Carolina  joined  him  in  considerable  force.  Ma- 
rion was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Santee,  and  Sumter  on 
the  west  of  that  river;  Davie  of  North  Carolina,  with  dra- 
goons and  mounted  riflemen,  had  repaired  to  the  "Waxhaw 
settlement ;  Colonel  Clark,  at  the  head  of  exiles  from  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  was  near  Augusta ;  the  mountaineers  of 
the  "West,  under  Campbell,  Cleaveland,  "Williams,  Sevier,  Shel- 
by, MacDowell,  and  others,  were  gathering  for  a  descent  upon 
the  British  posts  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia;  Cornwallis 
Avas  planning  junction  of  his  forces  at  Charlotte,  with  the 
intention  of  jjroceeding  into  Virginia. 

The  governor  of  North  Carolina,  holding  "  Colonel  l^for- 
gan's  character  as  a  soldier  to  be  well  known  in  America" 
and  his  presence  sure  to  give  spirit  to  his  countr}Tuen,  re- 
fpicsted  \mv,  to  take  command  of  a  regiment  of  i^n^-  niilitia 
of  North  Carolina.     This  Morgan  dechned,  for  Gates  received 


If 


F  MORGAN. 


1780.  THE  SEPARATE  COMMAND  OF  MORGAN.  477 

him  with  conliality  and  destined  him  for  special  service.     Men 
enough  to  fih  four  companies  were  chosen  out  of  two  battahons 
and  formed  mto  a  hght  infantry  battalion,  which,  with  the 
company  o     niiemen  of  Captain  Hose,  had  Lieutenant-Colo! 
nel  lloward  for  .ts  chief;  the  remains  of  two  regiments  of 
cavalry  were  united  under  Lieutenunt-Coionel  William  Wash- 
ington; and  the  whole  were  constituted  a  separate  corps  in 
le  command  of  Morgan.    Kor  waa  Morgan  without  power" 
ful  fnends      Jefferson,  the  governor  ol    •■  irgmia,  who  was 
keen-sighted  in  discerning  all  the  resources  of  thai  extens^e 
commonwealth,  and  Eutledgo,  the  great  chief  magistrate  of 
South  Carolina    with  the  approval  of  Gates,  wrote  letters  to 
congress  that  the  public  service  in  the  southern  department 
would  be  greatly  advanced  by  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
br-gadier-generah-    By  their  joint  influence,  on  the  thirteenth 
of  Octobei-,  SIX  dys  after  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  he 

SJoh'  AV-n  "'  ''"i'  "  '^"  '"^^^  '^  ''''  United  States. 
Colonel  Otlio  W^ilhams,  then  the  adjutant-general  of  the  south- 
done  S  '^"«'''*"^'*'^  ^^"^  "^"  *^^  J^i^tice"  congress  had 

On  the  day  following  the  promotion  of  Morgan,  Washing- 
ton, acting  under  a  power  delegated  to  him  by  congress,  an- 
nounced his  selection  of  Major-General  Greene  to  relieve  Gates 
of  the  chief  command  in  the  southern  department.  On  the 
«urtieth  of  October,  congress,  confirming  the  nomination  of 
Greene,  assigned  to  him  all  the  regular  troops  raised  or  to  be 
raised  m  Delaware  and  the  states  south  of  it;  and  conferred 
on  liim  all  the  powers  that  liad  been  vested  in  Gates,  but  "  sub- 
ject to  the  control  of  the  commander-in-chief.''  Thus  the 
conduct  of  the  war  obtained,  for  the  first  time,  the  unity  es- 
sential to  success.  -^ 

Washington  was  in  danger  of  being  shortly  without  men; 
ye  he  detached  for  the  service  in  the  Carolinas  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Henry  Lee,  his  best  cavn^..-  ofticer,  with  the  corps 

votoMt ''■"*' r^  ""'"  ''"'"  '"  "°*  ^'''"  '"  *''°  ^'°'«"f  congress,  but,  as  the 

t    rathe    nnphes  an  a,reen,ent  between  the  three  whose  letters  are  cit^d,  and 

a«  the  writers  of  them  were  far  distant  from  each  other  and  from  c.n<^r-J  the 

..vcment  for  Morgan's  promotion  as  brigadier  could  not  have  begun  m'i.ch  later 

tban  the  appointment  of  Gates  to  the  southern  command 


' 


V  n 


1    t-  ' 


i.  :  Si 


!; 


478 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.         ep.  v.  ;  on.  ir. 


'•i' 


;,  I 


i  I 


!',     f 


|.' 


'! 


ii 


!  ' 


i  i 


called  tlie  lo^yion,  ooTisIstinr^  of  three  troops  of  horse  and 
three  companies  of  infantry :  in  all,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men.  Hamilton,  weary  of  the  silent  tasks  of  a  secretary,  and 
impatient  to  gain  a  name  in  the  world  by  tlio  command  of 
troops  in  the  light  of  day,  having  for  his  object  "  to  act  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  some  enter])rise  that  might  raise  his  character 
as  a  soldier  above  mediocrity,"  spoke  to  Washington  about 
going  to  the  southward  with  (Irecne;  but  he  could  not  at  tlie 
time  be  spared  by  the  commander-in-(;hief,  and  nluctantly 
yleldea.  For  Greene,  Washington  prepared  a  welcome  at  the 
South,  writing  to  George  Mason:  "I  introduce  this  gentleman 
as  a  man  of  al)ilities,  bravery,  and  coolness.  He  has  a  compre- 
hensive knowh.'dge  of  our  alfairs,  and  is  a  man  of  fortitude  and 
resources.  I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt,  therefore,  of  hia 
employing  all  the  means  which  may  be  put  into  his  hands  to 
the  best  advantage,  n(,r  of  his  assisting  in  pointing  out  the 
most  likely  ones  to  anssver  the  purposes  of  his  connnaud." 
"General  Washington's  influence,"  so  Greene  wrote  to  namil- 
ton,  "will  do  more  than  all  the  assemblies  u])on  the  continent. 
I  always  thought  him  exceedingly  ])opular,  but  in  many  places 
he  is  little  less  than  adored  and  universally  adraii-cd.  From 
being  the  friend  of  the  general,  I  found  myself  exceedingly 
well  received." 

At  Charlotte,  where  Greene  anived  on  the  gccotuI  of  De- 
cember, he  received  a  complaint  from  Cornwallis  respecting 
the  execution  of  prisoners  after  the  fight  at  King's  Mountain, 
coupled  mth  a  threat  of  retaliation.  Avowing  his  own  respect 
for  the  principles  of  humanity  and  the  law  of  nations,  Greene 
answered  by  sending  him  a  list  of  about  fifty  men  who  had 
been  hanged  by  Lord  Cornwall  is  himself  and  others  high  in  the 
British  service  ;  and  he  called  on  mankind  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  the  order  of  Lord  Cornwallis  to  lialfour  after  the  action 
near  Camden,  on  Lord  liawdon's  proclamation,  and  on  the  rav- 
ages of  Tarleton.  ISTo  Ai  leriean  officer  in  his  department,  in 
any  one  instance,  imitated  the  cruelties  systematically  practised 
by  the  British.  Sumter  spai-ed  all  prisoners,  though  the  worst 
men  were  among  them.  Marion  was  famed  for  his  mercy. 
Crueltv  was  never  imputed  to  WilUnms,  Pickens,  or  any  other 
of  the  American  chiefs.     But  the  British  officers  continued  to 


1780-1781.       THE  SEPARATE  COMMAND   OF  MORGAN.       479 

ridioule  tlie  idea  of  obsorvia^r  capitulations  witli  Americana,  in- 
sisting tliat  those  who  chained  to  be  members  of  an  indepeud- 
ent  state  coidd  dei-ive  no  benefit  from  any  solemn  cngage- 
inent,  and  were  but  vanquished  traitors  who  owed  tlieir  livt's  to 
British  clemency. 

In  the  com-se  of  the  winter  Colonel  William  Cunuin<rham 
under  orders  from  dolonel  Balfour  at  Charleston,  led  one  hun- 
dred and  Hfty  white  men  and  negroes  into  the  interior  settle- 
ments.    On  his  route  lie  killed  about  fifty  of  thost^  whom  he 
suspected  of  being  friends  to  the  United  States,  and  burned 
tbeir  habitations.     At  length  he  came  to  a  house  which  shel- 
tered an  American   party  of  thirty-five   men  under  Colonel 
Hayes.     These  refusing  to  surrender  at  discretion,  a  tire  from 
both  sides  was  kept  up  for  about  three  hours,  when  the  British 
succeeded  in  setting  the  house  in  flames.     In  this  extremity  the 
besieged  capitulated  under  the  agreement  that  they  should  be 
treated  as  prisoners  of   war  until  they  could  be  exchanged. 
The  capitulation  was  formally  signed  and  interchanged ;  Mid 
yet  the  Americans  had  no  sooner  marched  out  than  the  British 
hanged  Colonel  Hayes  to  the  limb  of  a  tree.     The  second  in 
command  was  treated  in  like  manner,  after  which  Cunning- 
ham, with  his  own  hands,  slew  some  of  the  prisoners,  and  de- 
sired his  men  to  follow  his  example.     One  of  them  traversed 
the  ground  where  his  old  neighbors  and  acquaintances  lay  dead 
and  dying,  and  ran  his  sword  through  those  in  whom  he  saw 
signs  of   life.     These  facts  were  afterward  established  by   a 
judicial  investigation. 

Gates,  before  his  departure,  had  brought  together  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  seven  men,  of  whom  a  little  more  than 
one  half  were  militia.  "  Eight  liundred  were  properly  clothed 
and  ecpiipped."  Greene  was  by  nature  fii-m  and  adventurous 
and  rapid  in  decision  ;  now,  when  after  four  years'  service  he 
assumed  the  chief  command  in  the  southern  department,  he 
avoided  every  risk  and  carried  caution  almost  to  iiTcsolution. 

The  country  round  Charlotte  had  been  ravaged.  Sending 
Kosciuszko  in  advance  to  select  a  site  for  an  encampment, 
Grecsne  marched  his  army  to  the  head  of  boat  navigation  on 
tlie  Pedeo.  There,  in  a  fertile  and  unexhausted  country,  at  the 
falls  of  the  river,  he  established  what  he  named  "  a  camp  of 


im 


'  (I'.A 


i  ( 


R 


-li  !. 


480 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


Kr.  v.;  cu.  II. 


repose  "  to  improve  the  discipline  and  spirits  of  his  men,  and 
"  to  gain  for  himself  an  opportunity  of  looking  about,"  leaving 
Morgan  and  the  corps  which  Gates  had  confided  to  his  separate 
coimnand  as  the  sole  object  of  attraction  to  the  army  of  Corn- 
wallis. 

Morgan,  with  his  small  detached  force,  crossed  the  Cataw- 
ba just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Catawba,  and,  passing 
Broad  river,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December  encamped  on  tlic 
north  bank  of  the  Pacolet.  Here  he  was  joined  by  mounted 
Carolinians  under  Colonel  Pickens,  and  Ceorgians  under  Major 
McCall.  General  Davidson  of  JS'orth  Carolina  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  brought  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  into  his  camp,  Ijr.t 
left  immediately  to  collect  more.  JNIorgan  was  at  that  time  tlie 
ablest  commander  of  light  troops  in  the  world ;  in  no  Euro- 
pean army  of  that  day  were  there  troops  like  those  which  he 
trained.  Instructed  in  vigilance  by  life  in  the  backwoods,  ho 
had  organized  a  system  for  obtaining  speedy  and  exact  in- 
formation as  to  the  designs  and  movements  of  his  dispro- 
portionately powerful  enemy.  Greene  offered  hira  wagons. 
"  "Wagons,"  he  answered  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1780, 
"  would  be  an  impediment  whether  we  attempt  to  annoy  the 
enemy  or  provide  for  or  own  safety.  It  is  incom])atible 
with  the  nature  of  light  troops  to  be  encumbered  with  lug- 
gage." 

Hearing  that  a  large  party  of  Georgia  tories  was  plunder- 
ing the  neighl)orliood  of  Fair  Forest,  Morgan  sent  Lieutenant- 


Colonel  William   Washington    with  Ids   own 


regiment 


and 


mounted  riflemen  under  McCall,  to  attack  them.  Conung  up 
with  them  at  about  twelve  o'clock  on  the  thirtieth,  William 
Washington  extended  his  mounted  riflemen  on  their  wings, 
and  charged  them  in  front  with  his  own  cavalry.  The  tories 
fled  after  great  loss  in  battle,  leaving  forty  as  prisoners. 

Corawaliis — who,  when  joined  by  the  reinforcement  of  two 
thousand  men  sent  to  him  from  Xew  York  by  way  of  Charles- 
ton, under  Leslie,  coidd  advance  with  thirty-five  hundred  fight- 
ing men — was  impatient  of  the  successes  of  Morgan,  and  resolved 
to  intercept  his  retreat.  On  the  second  of  January  1781  he 
ordered  Tarleton,  the  officer  on  whom  he  most  relied,  to  cross 
Broad  river,  waiting :  "  Dear  Tarleton— If  Morgan  is  still  any 


.781.  THE  SEPARATE  COMMAND  OF  MORGAN. 


481 


where  within  your  roadi,  I  Hhiill  wish  you  to  push  liim  to  the 
utmost.  No  time  is  to  he  lost."  Tarletou  auswiTed  hy  prom- 
ising oitlier  to  destroy  JMorgun's  corps  or  push  ^*  i)efore  liim 
over  Broad  river  toward  King's  IMountain ;  juid  lie  wished 
the  main  army  to  advance,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  ca])ture  the 
fugitives.  "  I  feel  bold  in  oil'ering  my  opinion,"  he  wrote,  "  as 
it  Hows  from  well-founded  inquiry  conceniing  the  enemy's  de- 
signs." To  this  Cornwallis  replied  :  "  You  have  understood 
my  intentions  perfectly." 

Morgan  had  rei)orted  to  Greene :  "  Forage  and  provisions 
are  not  to  be  had  ;  here  we  cannot  subsist."  In  consequence 
of  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  country  in  which  he  was  sta- 
tioned, his  whole  forc(j  could  never  be  kept  together.  Parties 
from  necessity  were  always  straggling  in  search  of  food.  He 
had  requested  Greene  to  recall  his  detachment  to  the  main 
army,  or  to  snifer  him  to  pass  into  Georgia ;  neither  of  these 
requests  being  approved  of,  he  next  asked  that  a  diversion 
might  be  made  in  his  favor.  This  request,  too,  Greene  saw 
reasons  for  declining.  The  danger  to  Morgan  was  innninent, 
for  the  light  troops  of  the  British  were  pursuing  liira  on  the 
one  side,  and  their  main  army  preparing  to  intercept  his  re- 
treat on  the  other.  On  the  fourteenth  Tarleton  passed  the 
Enoree  and  Tyger  rivers  above  the  Cherokee  ford.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  iiifeenth  Morgan  encamped  at  Bun-'s  Mills  on 
Thickety  creek  ;  and  wrote  to  Greene  his  wish  to  avoid  an  ac- 
tion. "  But  this,"  he  added,  "  will  not  be  always  in  my  power." 
His  scouts  informed  him  that  Tarleton  had  crossed  the  Tyger 
at  Musgrove's  Mills  with  a  force  of  eleven  or  twelve  hundred 
men.  On  the  sixteenth  he  put  himself  and  his  party  in  full 
motion  toward  Broad  river,  while  in  the  evening  his  camp 
of  the  morning  M\as  occupied  by  Tarleton's  party.  The  same 
day  Cornwallis  with  his  arm^  reached  Turkey  creek. 

In  South  Carolina,  where  the  grass  is  springing  through 
every  month  of  winter,  cattle  in  those  days  grazed  all  the  year 
round ;  never  housed,  nor  fed  by  the  hand  oi  man,  but  driven 
from  time  to  time  into  co^qiens,  where  the  owners  gave  salt  to 
~  '■  .-i^M  and  each  one  marked  those  which  were  his  own.  Two 
miias  from  such  an  enclosure,  on  a  wide  plain  covered  with 
primeval  pines  and  chestnut  and  oak,  about  sixteen  miles  from 


V 


« 


'I 


I    I 


' 


Ml. 


/ 


482 


THE   AMEIIICAN  REVOLIITIO)^, 


EP.  V. ;  cii.  II. 


Spartiuil)iir<;,  seven  niileH  from  the  (Jiierokee  ford  on  tlie  liroad 
riv'T,  and  a  little  less  than  five  miles  from  i.ie  line  of  Nortli 
Carolina,  Morgan  encamped  Lis  party  for  the  night.  Jlin 
former  ])osition  subjected  him  at  once  to  the  operations  of 
Cornwallis  and  Tarleton,  and,  in  ease  of  a  defeat,  his  retreat 
might  have  easily  Iteen  cut  olf;  at  the  Cowpi'tis  he  was  in  a 
position  to  im])rove  any  advantage  he  might  gain,  and  to  pro- 
vide better  for  his  own  security  should  h«  be  unl'ijrtunate. 
With  a  nolile  contidence  in  himself,  in  his  otlicers,  and  in  his 
men,  Morgan  i-esolved  to  give  battle  to  his  pursuers.  In  the 
crvening  he  moved  among  his  fellow-soldiers,  sustaining  their 
cheerfulness.  During  the  night  Pickens  returned  from  a 
short  absence  with  more  than  a  hundred  militia,  and  another 
party  of  tifty  came  in.  The  moment  was  come  when  it  was 
s:.^^al  to  tiglit. 

On  the  seventeenth,  at  an   hour  before  daylight,  Moro-an, 
through   his  excellent  system  of  si)ies,  knew  that  Tarleton's 
trooi)s  were  approaching  his  camp.     His  own  men,  numbering 
eighty  cavalry  and  tM'o  hundred  and  thirty-seven  infantry  of 
the  troops  of  the  United  States,  and  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  militia  from  the  states  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  and  Georgia,  quietly  breakfasted  and  prepared  for 
battle.     The  ground  chosen  was  an  open  Avood  between  the 
springs  of  two  little  rivulets,  with   a  slight  ridge  extending 
from  one  of  them  to  the  other.     The  wood  was  free  from  un- 
dergrowth ;  no  thicket  offered  covert,  no  swamp  a  refuge  from 
cavah-y.     The  best  troops   were  placed  in  line  on  the  rising 
ground.     The  IVfaryland  light  infantry,  commanded  by  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Ilow^ird,  formed  the  centre ;  two  companies  of 
approved  Virginia  riflemen  were  on  each  wing.     Lieutenant- 
Colonel  William  Washington  and  his  cavalry  were  placed  as  a 
reserve  out  of  sight  ajul  out  of  fire.     The  volunteers  from  the 
Carolinas  and  Geoi-gia  were  posted  under  Pickens  in  advance, 
so  as  to  defend  the  approaches.     Al)out  sixty  shai-pshooters 
of  the  Xorth  Carolina  volunteers  were  to  act  as  skirmishers 
on  the  right  flank  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  front  of  the 
line,  and  as  many  more  of  tlie  Georgians  at  the  same  dis- 
tance on  the  left. 

Tarleton's  troops^  numbering  a  little  more  than  eleven  Imn 


1781,  THE  SEPARATE  COMMAND  OF  MORGAN. 


4S3 


drcd,  liiiviiiiT  two  ficM-piofos  ajid  u  frrvnf  iidvantiif^'o  in  hayoncts 
and  ciiviilry,  iifter  a  nmirli  of  t^volvt!  niilos,  camo  in  sight  at 
eiglit  o'clock,  and  drew  up  in  a  sinj^do  liiiu  of  hattlc.    The  ll-gion 
infantry  formed  tlicir  centre  witli  the  seventh' regiment  («rthe 
riglit,  tiie  seventy-lirst  on  the  left,  and  two  light  conii)anie8  of 
a  hundred  itien  each  on  the  ilanVs.     The  lutillery  moved  in 
front.     Tarlotou,  with  two  hundred  and  eighty  cavalry,  was  in 
the  rear.     Ko  sooner  were  they  formed  tiian  their  whole' line 
rushed  forward  with  the  greatest  impetuosity  and  \/ith  shouts. 
They  wore  received  hy  a  heavy  and  well-directed  lire— first 
from  the  American  sldnnishers,  and  then  fi-om  the  whole  of 
i'ickens's   command;  hut   their  superiority  of  num])er8  ena- 
hled  them  to  gain  the  flanks   of  the   Americans,  who  were 
thus  obliged  to  changi;  their  ])osition.     They  drew  hack  in 
good  order  about  fifty  paces,  formed,  advanced  on  the  enemy 
and  gave  them  a  volley  which  threw  them  into  disorder.    The 
Virginia  riflemen,  wiio  had   kept  their  places,  instinctively 
formed  themselves  on  the  sides  of  the  Eritish,  so  that  they 
who  two  or  three  minutes  before  had  threatened  to  tuni  the 
Americans  found  themselves  as  it  were  within  a  pair  of  oi)en 
])incers,  exposed  to  the  converging  oblique  fire  of  two  com- 
panies of  sharpshooters  on  each  flank  and  a  direct  fire  in 
front.      Lieutcnant-Colontl   Howard  perceived   the  waverin<>- 
of  the  British  and  gave  orders  ft»r  the  line  to   charge  with 
bayonets,  Avhich  was  done  with  such  address  that  the  enemy 
fled  with  tlie  utmost  i^recipitation,  lea\'ing  tbeir  field-pieces 
behind  them.     The  Americans  followed  up  their  advantaf'cs 
so  efTectually  that  the  British  had  no  opportunity  of  rally- 
ing.     Lieutenant-Colonel  William  Washington,  having  been 
informed  that  Tarleton  was  cutiii.g  do\vn  tbe  riflemen  on  the 
left,  pushed  forward  and  charged  his  party  witb  such  firmness 
that  they  broke  their  ranks  and  fled,  while  Tarleton  made  no 
attempt  to  recover  the  day.   They  were  completely  routed  and 
were  pursued  twenty-four  miles  by  the  cavalry. 

Of  the  Amcncans,  only  twelve  were  killed  and  sixty 
wounded.  Of  the  enemy,  ten  commissioned  officers  were 
killed,  and  more  than  a  hundred  rank  and  file ;  two  hundred 
were  wounded ;  twenty-nine  commissioned  officers  and  more 
than  five  hundred  privates  were  taken  prisoners,  beside  seventy 


fr: 

n 

-■<      -1    . 

484 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  (.11.  II. 


I'liifi 


negroes.  Two  stiuidards,  upward  of  a  liuudred  dragoon  lionsts, 
thirty-Hvc  wagons,  eight  hundred  niiiskets,  and  two  iield-i>iece8 
tliat  had  been  taken  from  the  British  at  Saratoga  and  retaken 
at  Camden,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  vietoi-H.  The  imnieuHO 
baggage  of  Tiirletoirm  party,  which  had  been  left  in  the  rear, 
was  destroyed  by  the  I>ritish  tliemselves.  *' Our  success," 
wrote  the  victor  in  his  modest  report,  "nmst  be  attributed  to 
the  justice  of  our  cause  and  the  gallantry  of  our  troops.  My 
wislies  would  induce  me  to  name  every  sentinel  m  the  corps." 

The  victory  came  because  the  ofKcisi's  were  excellent ;  the 
men,  of  whom  every  one  was  at  heart  a  volunteer,  were  bent  on 
doing  their  wliole  duty,  and  sure  that  tlieir  general  knew  how  to 
conunand  them.  Every  oiKeer  and  soldier  felt  himselt'one  with 
his  general  in  will,  council,  and  action.  Congress,  attempting 
to  sum  u])  the  merit  of  ]\rorgan  in  three  words,  instinctively 
wrote:  ^^  Virtus  ion'favalef,  United  virtue  prevails."*  The 
army  was  fashioned  by  its  general  into  one  life,  one  devoted- 
ness,  une  energy.  "  It  is  impossible,"  so,  on  the  day  after  tlie 
battle,  wrote  Cornwallis,  the  nearest  and  most  deei)ly  interested 
observer,  to  tlie  IJritish  conunander-in-chief  in  America,  "  it  is 
impossible  to  foresee  all  the  eonse({uences  that  this  unexpected 
and  extraordinary  event  may  produce."  "As  the  defeat  of 
Ferguson  at  King's  ]\[ountain  nuide"  to  Lord  Cornwallis 
"  the  first  invasion  of  North  Carolina  impossible,"  so  Tarleton 
foresaw  that  "  the  battle  of  Cowpens  would  make  the  second 
disastrous." 

The  battle  was  ended  two  liours  before  noon.  The  prudence 
of  IMorgan  was  ecpial  to  his  daring.  Aware  that  the  camp  of 
Cornwallis  at  Turkey  creek  was  within  about  twenty  miles  of 
him  and  nearer  the  fords  of  the  Catawba  through  which  he 
must  retire,  M())'gan  destroyed  the  captured  baggage-wagons, 
paroled  the  British  officers,  intrusted  the  wounded  to  the  care 
of  the  few  residents  of  the  neighborhood,  and,  leaving  his 
cavalry  to  follow  him  on  their  return  from  the  pursuit,  on 
the  day  oi  the  battle  he  crossed  the  Broad  river  with  his  foot 

*  The  controversial  writings  of  the  English  officers  on  this  campaign  are  nu- 
merous ;  they  are  the  more  instinctive  because  controversial.  They  have  all  been 
consulted,  as  well  as  the  observations  of  the  French  major-general  Chastellux, 
who  made  a  careful  study  of  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens.  Morgan's  Life,  bj 
James  Graham,  includes  his  too  few  iotuaiuiug  papers  uf  historical  interest. 


'hi 


/ 


tP.  V. ;  (.11.  II. 

joii  liorncs, 
lielcl-|»ioce8 
lul  retaken 
LJ  iiuiueuHo 
n  the  rear, 
•  success," 
tribiited  to 
oops.  }^[y 
he  corps.'' 
jlleut;  the 
•re  bent  on 
lew  how  to 
If  one  with 
ittenipting 
stlnetively 
3."*  Tho 
0  dcvoted- 
y  after  tlie 

interested 
rica,  "  it  is 
mexpected 

defeat  of 
CoruwalHs 
o  Tarleton 
tho  second 

3  prudence 
le  camp  of 
:y  miles  of 
which  he 
^e-wagons, 
to  the  care 
3aving  his 
•nrsuit,  on 
;h  his  foot 

paign  are  nu- 
liave  all  been 
il  Cli.'istellux, 
au's  Life,  bj 
atercst. 


1781. 


TIIK  SKPARATE   COMMAND  OF  MORGAN. 


485 


soldiers  and  his  prisoners,  the  captured  artillery,  rauslcets,  and 
annaunition.  Proceeding  by  eauy  marches  of  ten  miles  a  day, 
on  the  twenty-third  he  crossed  the  Catawba  at  Sherrald's  ford. 
Taking  for  his  troops  a  week's  rest  in  his  camp  north  of  tho 
river,  lie  sent  forward  his  prisoners  tj  Salisbury,  nnder  tho 
guard  of  Virginia  militia  whoso  tiiufi  of  service  had  just  ex- 
pired. They  were  soon  beyond  the  Yadkin  on  their  way  to 
V^irginia. 

The  fame  of  the  great  victory  at  tho  Cowpens  spread  in 
every  direction.  Clreene  announced  it  in  general  orclers,  and 
his  army  saluted  the  victors  as  "  the  finest  fellows  on  earth, 
more  worthy  than  ever  of  love."  liutledge  of  South  Ciu'olina 
repeated  their  praises,  and  rewarded  I'iekens  with  a  commis- 
sion as  brigadier.  Davidson  of  !North  Carolina  wrote  that  the 
victory  "  gladdened  every  countenance,  and  paved  tho  way  for 
the  salvation  of  tho  country."  Tho  state  of  Virginia  voted  to 
Morgan  a  horse  and  a  sword  in  testimony  of  "the  highest 
esteem  of  his  country  for  his  military  character  and  abilities 
80  gloriously  displiiyed."  The  United  States  in  congress  placed 
auKjng  their  records  "  the  most  lively  sense  of  approbation  of 
the  conduct  of  Morgan  and  the  men  and  oflicers  under  his 
command."  To  him  they  voted  a  gold  medal,  to  Ilowai-d  and 
William  Washington  medals  of  silver,  and  swords  to  Pickens 
and  Triplet. 

Cornwallis  had  entreated  Tarleton  to  make  haste  and  at- 
tack the  light  troops  of  Morgan,  but  had  neglected  measures 
to  support  him.  In  the  condition  of  affairs  he  had  no  good 
part  to  take  but  to  remain  in  South  Carolina  and  recover  the 
mastery  there  if  he  could;  bu^,  all  his  ]n'oud  hopes  rested  on 
a  successful  campaign  in  Virginia.  The  day  after  the  battle 
he  wrote  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton:  "Nothing  but  the  most  ab- 
solute necessity  shall  induce  nie  to  give  up  the  important  ob- 
ject of  the  winter's  campaign.  Defensive  measures  would 
be  certain  ruin  to  the  affairs  of  Britain  in  the  southern  colo- 
nies." On  his  o^wTi  res])onsibility  and  against  the  opinion  of 
his  superior  officer,  he  persisted  in  his  plan  of  striking  at  the 
heart  of  North  Carolina,  establishing  there  a  royal  govern- 
ment, and  pressing  forward  to  a  junctioii.  with  the  British 
troops  on  the  Chesapeake. 


i  :|  i 


m4 


'    i 


iH 


(! 


'    i 


fSI    |i 


tr 


486 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  en.  II. 


Leaving  Loi'd  Rawdon  with  a  coiisidoral)lo  body  of  trooiis 
to  defend  South  Carolina,  Connvallis,  with  the  reinforcement 
which  LesHe  had  brought  him,  began  liis  long  marcli,  which  he 
meant  should  have  been  a  hot  pursuit  of  Morgan,  by  avoidiuc 
the  lower  roads,  there  being  so  few  fords  in  the  great  rivers 
below  their  forks.  On  the  twenty-liftu  he  collected  his  army 
at  Eamsower  B  mill,  on  the  south  fork  of  the  Catawba.  Im- 
patient of  being  encumbered  and  delayed  there,  he  resolved  to 
give  up  his  eonnmmications  with  South  Carohna  and  to  turn 
his  anny  into  light  troops.  The  measure,  if  not  in  every  re- 
spect absurd,  was  adopted  too  late.  Two  days  he  devoted  to 
destroying  baggage  and  all  wagons  except  those'ladeu  with  hos- 
pital stores,  salt,  and  ammunition,  and  four  reserved  for  the 
sick  and  wounded,  thus  depriving  his  soldiers  even  of  a  re<nilar 
supply  of  provisions.  Then,  by  forced  marches  through  floods 
of  rain,  he  approached  the  river,  which,  having  risen  too  hioh 
to  be  forded,  stopped  his  march  till  its  waters  should  subside. 

Morgan  from  the  first  had  divined  the  polic}  of  CornwaUis, 
and,  on  the  twenty -fifth  of  January,  had  written  to  Greene  ad- 
vising a  junction  of  their  forces.  On  the  morning  of  the 
thirtieth  of  January,  Greene  arrived  at  ]\[organ's  encampment, 
attended  only  by  a  few  dragoons.  He  readily  adopted  his 
advice,  and  on  that  very  day  gave  orders  to  the  army  on  the 
Pedee  to  prepare  to  form  a  junction  at  Guilford  court-house 
with  those  under  Morgan,  with  whom  he  remained. 

On  the  first  day  of  February,  CornwaUis,  with  a  part  of  his 
army,  passed  the  Catawba  at  Maegowan's  ford.  The  dark 
stream  was  near  five  hundred  yards  wide,  with  a  rocky  bot- 
tom and  a  strong  current,  and  was  perseveringly  disputed 
by  General  Davidson  of  Xorth  Carolina  with  three  hundred 
militia,  till  in  resisting  the  landing  a  volley  of  musketry  was 
aimed  at  him  M'ith  deadly  effect.  In  him  fell  one  of  the 
bravi  jt  and  best  of  those  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  their  country.  Forty  of  the  British  light  in- 
fantry and  grenadiers  were  killed  or  wounded ;  the  horse 
which  CornwaUis  rode  was  struck  while  in  the  stream,  but 
reached  the  shore  before  falling.  The  other  division  passed 
tlie  Catawba  at  Beattie's  ford,  and  the  united  army  encamped 
about  five  miles  from  the  river  on  the   road   to  Salisbury. 


KP.  V. ;  en.  II. 

ij  of  troops 
iiforceinent 
li,  which  he 
jy  avoiding 
^reat  rivers 
d  his  army 
iwba.  Iiu- 
renolved  to 
:ind  to  turn 
1  every  re- 
devoted  to 
n  with  hos- 
ed for  the 
if  a  regular 
)ug]i  floods 
in  too  high 
1  subside. 
CJornwalhs, 
Grreene  ad- 
ing  of  tlic 
campment, 
:lopted  his 
my  on  the 
!oiirt-honse 

part  of  his 

The  dark 

rocky  hot- 

r  disputed 

6  hundred 

sketry  was 

me  of  the 

the  inde- 

h"ght  in- 

the   liorse 

tronni,  but 

on  2)asscd 

encamped 

Salisbury. 


1781. 


THE  SEPARATE  COMMAND  OF  MORGAN. 


487 


On  the  second  and  tliird  of  February  the  American  light  in- 
fantry, continuing  tlieir  inarch,  with  the  British  at  their  heels, 
crossed  the  Yadkin  at  the  Trading  ford,  partly  on  flats,  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  time  in  a  heavy  rain.  The  river, 
after  the  Americans  were  safe  beyond  it  and  Morgan  had  se- 
cured aP  water  craft  on  its  south  side,  rose  too  high  to  be 
forded.  The  Americans  looked  upon  Providence  as  their  ally. 
C.V)iTiwallis  was  forced  to  lose  two  days  in  ascending  the 
Yadkiu  to  the  so-called  Shallow  ford,  where  he  crossed  on  the 
seventh,  and  on  the  night  of  the  ninth  encamped  near  the 
Moravian  settlement  of  Salem.  There,  near  the  edge  of  the 
wilderness,  in  a  genial  clime  and  on  a  bountiful  soil,  hospitable 
emigrants,  l)ound  by  their  faith  never  to  take  up  arms,  had 
chosen  their  abodes ;  and  for  their  sole  defence  had  raised  the 
symbol  of  the  triumphant  Lamb.  Among  them  equality 
reigned.  No  one,  then  or  thereafter,  was  held  in  bondage. 
There  were  no  poor,  and  none  marked  from  others  by  their 
apparel  or  their  dwellings.  Everywhere  appeared  simplicity 
and  neatness.  The  elders  watched  over  the  members  of  the 
congregation,  and  incurable  wrong-doers  were  punished  by  ex- 
pulsion. After  their  hours  of  toil  came  the  hour  for  prayer, 
exhortations,  and  the  singing  of  psalms  and  hymns.  Under 
their  well-directed  labor  the  wilderness  blossomed  like  the 
rose. 

On  the  same  day,  at  the  distance  of  five-and-twenty  miles 
from  Cornwallis,  the  two  divisions  of  the  American  army 
ctfected  their  junction  at  Guilford  court-house.  Then  General 
Morgan,  emaciated  and  cripi)led  by  combined  attacks  of  fever 
and  rhcmnatism,  took  a  leave  of  absence.  Never  again  dnr- 
ing  the  war  was  he  able  to  resume  a  command.  Wherever 
he  appeared  he  had  heralded  the  way  to  daring  action,  and 
almost  always  to  success.  In  1774,  when  he  was  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Ilockhocking  on  the  return  from  a  victorious 
Indian  campaign,  he  and  other  triumphant  Virginians,  hear- 
ing that  Kew  England  was  preparing  to  resist  in  arms  en- 
croachments on  their  liberty,  pledged  their  support  to  the  peo- 
ple of  I)Oston.  In  the  early  sunnncr  of  1775  he  raised  a  com- 
pany of  ninetv-six  riflemen,  and  in  twentv-one  dnvs.  witlimit; 
the  loss  of  one  of  them,  marched  them  from  West  Virginia 


i    :| 


fi^rtii 


I  !  :'  i 


iiji 


■I! 


'  t 


>'Hi 


488 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  cii.  II. 


to  Boston.  He  commanded  the  van  in  tlie  struggle  tliroiio'li 
the  wilderness  to  Canada.  Thrice  he  led  a  forlorn  hope  be- 
fore Qnebec.  To  him  l)eIongs  the  chief  glory  of  the  first  great 
engagement  with  Burgoyne's  army,  and  he  shared  in  all  that 
followed  till  the  surrender;  and  now  he  had  won  at  the  Cow- 
pens  the  most  astonishing  victory  of  the  war.  lie  took  Avith 
him  into  retirement  the  praises  of  all  the  army  and  of  the 
chief  civil  representatives  of  the  country. 


t% 


1781.  THE  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN  OF  GREENE.  439 


1 


CHAPTER  III. 

the  south  ekn  campaign  of  gkeene. 
Febbuaby-September  1781. 

Mokoan's  success  lighted  tlio  fire  of  emulation  in  the  breast 
of  Greene,  and  he  was  "  loth  it  should  stand  alone."  To  one  of 
his  subordinate  officers  on  the  Pedee  he  wrote :  "  Here  is  a 
fine  field  and  great  glory  ahead."  On  the  day  of  his  meeting 
Morgan  he  wrote  to  "  the  famous  olonel  William  Campbell " 
to  "  bring  without  loss  of  time  a  thousand  good  volunteers 
from  over  the  mountains."  A  like  letter  was  addressed  to 
Shelby,  though  without  effect.  To  the  officers  counnanding 
in  the  counties  of  Wilkes  and  Surry,  Greene  said :  "  If  vou 
repair  to  arms,  Lord  Coniwallis  must  be  inevitably  ruined." 
lie  called  upon  Sumter,  as  soon  as  his  recovery  should  permit, 
to  take  the  field  at  the  head  of  the  South  Carolina  militia ;  he 
gave  orders  to  General  Pickens  to  raise  troops  in  the  district 
of  Augusta  and  Ninety-Six,  and  hang  on  the  rear  of  the  ene- 
my ;  and  he  sought  out  powerful  horses  and  skilful  riders  to 
strengthen  the  cavalry  of  William  Washington. 

The  two  divisions  of  the  American  army,  after  effecting 
tlieir  junction  at  Guilford  court-house,  were  still  too  weak  to 
offer  battle.  Edward  Carrington  of  Virginia,  the  wise  selec- 
tion of  Greene  for  his  quartermaster,  advised  to  cross  the  Dan 
at  the  ferries  of  Irwin  and  Boyd,  which  were  seventy  miles 
distant  from  Guilford  court-house  and  twenty  miles  below 
Dix's  ferry,  and  where  he  knew  that  boats  could  be  collected. 
The  advice  was  adopted.  Greene  placed  under  Otho  Wil- 
liams the  flower  of  liis  trr^-ops  as  a  light  corps,  whicli  on  the 
morning  of  the  tenth  sallied  forth  to  watch  Cornwallis,  to  pre- 


h 


i 


»    >   H 


400 


THE  AMKRICAN  REVOLUTION. 


Ki'.  V. ;  c'li.  III. 


I' 


n 


vont  liis  roc'C'iviii<j^  corrcet  infonimtidii,  iiiid  to  Iciul  liim  in  tlie 
direction  of  Dix's  i'vrvy  by  gu;inlin<;'  its  approaclioH.  Tlicy 
Huc(!oc(led  for  n  day  or  two  in  |H'i-|)lo.\inuj  liini. 

Meantime,  tlic  liirgor  part  of  tlio  army  under  Greene,  witli' 
out  tents,  poorly  clothed,  and  for  the  most  part  witlioiit  slices 
"many  luindreds  of  the  soldiers  tracking  the  ground  with  their 
bloody  feet,"  retreated  at  the  rate  of  seventeen  miles  a  day 
along  wilderness  roads  where  the  wagon-wheels  sunk  deei)  in 
mire  and  the  crcieks  were  swollen  by  heavy  rains.  On  the  four- 
teenth of  February  1781  they  arrived  at  the  feri-ies.  Greene 
first  sent  over  the  w;igons,and  at  half-past  live  in  the  afternoon 
could  write  "  that  all  his  trooiw  were  over  and  the  stage  clear.'" 

So  soon  as  Cornwallis  gained  good  inforiuati<ui,  lie  pursued 
the  light  troops  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  a  day,  but  he  was 
too  late.  On  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth,  Otho  Williams 
marching  on  that  day  forty  miles,  brought  his  party  to  the 
ferries.  The  next  morning  Cornwallis  arrived,  only  to  Icani 
that  the  Americans,  even  to  their  rear-guard,  had  crossed  the 
river  the  night  before. 

On  the  four  days'  nuirch  from  Guilford  court-house  Greene 
scarcely  slept  four  hours  ;  and  his  care  was  so  comprehen- 
sive that  nothing,  however  ti-illing,  was  afterwards  found  to 
have  been  overlooked  or  neglected.  "Your  retreat  before 
Cornwallis,"  wrote  "Washington,  "is  highly  applauded  by  all 
raid<s,  and  rcHects  nnich  honor  on  your  military  abilities." 
"Every  measure  of  the  Americans,"  so  relates  a  Jhitish  his- 
torian, "  during  t'  'r  march  from  the  Catawba  to  Virginia  was 
judiciously  designed  and  vigorously  executed."  S[)ecial  ap- 
})lause  was  justly  awarded  to  Carriugton  and  to  Otho  Will- 
iams. In  the  cainp  of  Greene  every  countenance  was  lighted 
up  -with  joy.  Soldiers  in  tattered  garments,  with  but  one 
blanket  to  four  men,  without  shoes,  regular  food,  or  pay,  were 
happy  in  the  thought  of  having  done  their  duty  to  their  coun- 
try ;  they  all  were  ready  to  recross  the  Dan  and  attack. 

After  giving  his  trooi)s  a  day's  rest,  Cornwallis  moved  by 
easy  marches  to  Hillsborough,  where  on  the  twentieth  he 
invited  by  proclanuilion  all  loyal  subjects  in  the  province  to 
repair  to  the  royal  standai'd,  being  ready  to  concur  with  them 
in  re-establishing  the  government  of  the  king. 


1781.  THE  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN  OF  GREENE. 


491 


No  sooner  had  tho  British  left  the  banks  of  the  Dan  than 
Lee's  legion  recrossed  the  river.  Tiiey  were  followed  on  the 
twenty-first  by  the  light  troops,  and  on  the  twenty-second  by 
Greene  with  the  rest  of  his  army,  including  a  reinforcement 
of  six  lumdred  militia-nien  of  Virginia. 

The  loyalists  of  North  C.'arolina,  inferring  from  the  procla- 
mation of  Cornwallis  that  he  was  in  peaceable  possession  of 
the  country,  rose  in  such  numbers  that  seven  hidependent  com- 
panies were  formed  in  one  day ;  and  Tarlcton  with  the  British 
legion  was  detached  across  the  IJaw  river  for  their  i)rotection. 
By  the  order  of  (ireene,  Pickens,  who  had  collected  between 
three  and  four  hundred  militia,  and  Lee  formed  a  junction  and 
moved  against  both  parties.  Missing  Tarleton,  they  fell  in 
with  three  hundred  royalists  under  Colonel  Pyle,  and  routed 
them  with  "  dreadful  carnage."  Tarleton,  v/ho  was  refreshing 
his  legion  about  a  mile  from  the  scene  of  action,  hurried  back 
to  Hillsborough,  and  all  royalists  who  were  on  their  way  to 
join  the  king's  standard  returned  home.  Cornwallis  describes 
his  friends  as  timid,  "  the  rebels  "  as  "  inveterate." 

To  compel  Oreene  to  accept  battle,  Cornwallis  on  the  twen- 
ty-seventh moved  his  whole  force  across  the  Haw,  and  en- 
camped near  Allemancc  creek.  For  seven  days  Gi  ne  lay 
within  ten  miles  of  the  British,  but  baffled  them  by  taking 
a  new  position  every  night.  No  fear  of  censure  could  hurry 
his  determined  mind  to  hazard  an  engagement.  He  waited 
till  he  was  joined  by  the  south-west  Virginia  militia  under 
William  Campbell,  by  another  brigade  of  militia  from  Vir- 
ginia under  General  Lawson,  by  two  from  North  Carolina  un- 
der Butler  and  Eaton,  and  by  four  hundred  regulars  raised  for 
eighteen  months.  Then  on  the  fourteenth  of  March  he  en- 
camped near  the  Guilford  court-house,  within  eight  miles  of 
the  British  forces. 

At  dawn  of  day  on  the  fifteenth,  Cornwallis,  having  sent  oS. 
his  baggage  under  escort,  set  in  motion  the  rest  of  his  army, 
less  than  nineteen  hundred  in  number,  but  all  of  them  veteran 
troops  of  the  best  quality.  To  oppose  them,  Greene  had  six- 
teen hundred  and  fifty-one  men  equal  to  the  best  of  the  Brit- 
ish, and  more  than  two  thousand  militia— in  all,  twice  as  many 


as  his  antagonist. 
VOL.  V. — 33 


But  he  had  given  himself  little  rest  since  he 


y 


liH 


r 


ii  ii 


!•  I 


.  1  I 


192 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       ep.  v.  ;  en.  m. 


left  his  camp  on  the  Pedee ;  and  on  this  most  eventful  day  of 
his  life  he  found  himself  worn  out  with  constant  watcliing. 

The  ground  on  which  his  army  was  to  he  dra^vn  up  was  a 
large  hill,  surrounded  by  other  hills  and  almost  everywhere 
covered  witli  forest-trees  and  a  thick  undergrowth.  To  receive 
the  enemy,  he  selected  three  separate  positions  :  the  iirst,  ad- 
mirably chosen ;  the  second,  three  hundred  yards  in  the  rear 
of  the  first,  was  entirely  in  the  woods;  oetween  one  quarter 
and  one  third  of  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  the  second  was  the  third 
position,  where  he  drew  up  his  best  troops  obliquely,  according 
to  the  declivities  of  a  hill  on  which  they  were  posted,  most  of 
them  in  a  forest.  The  positions  were  so  far  ajiart  that  they 
could  give  each  other  no  immediate  sujiport ;  so  that  Corn- 
wallis  had  to  engage,  as  it  were,  three  separate  armies,  and 
in  each  engagement  would  have  a  superiority  in  numbers. 
Greene  persistently  differed  with  the  connnander-in-chicf  on 
the  proper  manner  of  using  militia ;  Washington  held  that 
they  should  be  used  as  a  reserve  to  improve  an  advantage, 
while  Greene  insisted  that  they  ought  to  be  placed  in  front ; 
and  he  now  acted  on  his  own  opinion. 

The  position  selected  for  the  first  line  is  described  by 
Greene  as  the  most  advantageous  he  ever  saw.  It  was  on  the 
skirt  of  the  wood,  protected  on  the  flanks  and  rear,  having  in 
the  centre  a  fence,  with  open  ground  over  which  the  British 
army  was  obliged  to  advance,  exposed  to  a  fire  that  must  have 
torn  them  in  pieces  had  they  ene^imtercd  troops  who  would 
liave  stood  their  ground.  Here  Greene  placed  the  two  brigades 
of  North  Cat'olina  militia,  not  quite  eleven  hundred  in  num- 
ber, his  poorest  troops,  suddenly  called  together,  ignorant  of 
war,  of  each  other,  and  of  their  general  officer".  On  their 
right  were  posted  two  six-pounders,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
William  Washington  with  an  able  corps  of  observation ;  on 
their  left  a  like  corps  w^as  formed  of  Lee's  conunaud  and  the 
van  of  the  transmontane  riflemen. 

The  battle  began  with  cp'  .onading  about  one  in  the  after- 
noon. The  undivided  force  of  Cornwallis  displayed  into  line, 
advanced  at  quick  step,  gave  their  fire,  shouted,  and  rushed 
forward  with  bayonets.  While  they  were  still  in  the  open 
field,  at  a  distance  of  one  huudjed  and  forty  yards,  the  North 


1781.  THE  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN  OF  GREENE.  493 

Carolina  brigade  fled,  "none  of  them  having  fired  more  than 
twice,  very  few  more  than  once,  and  near  one  half  not  at  all." 
Lee's  command  was  separated  from  the  main  army,  which  they 
did  not  rejoin  till  the  next  day. 

Without  pausing  to  take  breath,  the  British  line,  which  had 
not  escaped  without  loss,  advanced  to  attack  the  second  position 
of  the  Americans,  defended  by  the  Virginia  brigade.  The 
men  were  used  to  forest  warfare,  and  they  made  a  brave  and 
obstmate  resistance.  They  discharged  their  pieces,  drew  back 
behind  the  brow  of  the  hill  to  load,  and  returned  to  renew 
their  fire.  In  dislodging  some  Americans  from  their  post  on 
a  woody  height,  the  ranks  of  the  first  battalion  of  the  guards 
were  thinned  and  many  of  their  ofiicers  fell.  The  Virginia 
brigade  did  not  retreat  till  the  British  drew  near  enough  to 
charge  with  the  bayonet. 

The  British  army,  though  suffering  from  fatigue  and  weak- 
ened by  heavy  losses,  pressed  forward  to  the  third  American 
line,  where  Greene  was  present.     A  fierce  attack  was  made 
on  the_  American  right  by  Colonel  Webster  with  the  left  of 
the  British.     After  a  long  and  bloody  encounter,  the  British 
were  beaten  back  by  the  continentals,  and  were  forced  with 
great  loss  to  recross  a  ravine.   Webster  was  mortally  wounded. 
The  second  battalion  of  the  guards,  led  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Stewart,  broke  through  the  second  Maryland  regiment, 
captured  two  field-pieces,  and  pursued  their  advantage  into 
more  open  ground.     Immediately  Lieutenant-Colonel  William 
Washington,  who  had  brought  his  cavalry  once  more  into  the 
field,  made  a  charge  upon  them  with  his  mounted  men;  and 
the  first  regiment  of  Marylanders,  led  by  Gunby  and  seconded 
by  Howard,  engaged  with  their  bayonets.     Stewart  fell  under 
a  blow  from  Captain  Smith  ;  and  the  British  party  was  driven 
back  with  great  slaughter  and  the  loss  of  the  cannon  which 
they  had  taken.     The  first  battalion  of  the  guards,  although 
already  crippled,  advanced  against  the  Americans.     A  severe 
American  fire  on  its  front  and  flanks  completely  threw  them 
into  disorder.     At  this  moment  Du  Puy's  Hessian  regiment, 
which  had  thus  far  suffered  but  little,  came  up  in  compact 
order  on  tlie  left  of  the  guards,  who  raUied  behind  them,  rtv 
newed  the  attack,  and  in  turn  defeated  the  Americans. 


<t  1 


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I'M 


494 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.        EP.v.jon.in. 


The  Eritisli  army  appeared  to  be  gaining  the  American 
right.  Tlie  battle  had  raged  for  two  houre.  Greene  could 
still  order  into  the  fight  two  Virginia  regiments  of  continentals, 
of  wliicli  one  had  hardly  been  engaged,  the  other  had  been 
withheld  as  a  reserve;  but  he  hesitated.  After  deliberating 
for  some  moments,  not  knowing  how  much  the  British  had 
suffered,  he  left  his  cannon  and  the  field  to  the  enemy,  and 
used  his  reserve  only  to  cover  the  retreat  of  his  army.  The 
last  as  well  as  the  first  in  the  engagement  were  the  riflemen  of 
Campbell,  who  continued  firing  from  tree  to  tree  till  the  cav- 
alry of  Tarleton  compelled  them  to  fly.  After  the  Americans 
were  encamped  in  safety,  Greene  fainted  from  exhaustion,  and, 
on  recovering  consciousness,  remained  far  from  well. 

Although  the  battle  at  Guilford  marks  the  end  of  the 
power  of  the  British  in  North  Carolina,  no  praise  is  too  great 
for  the  conduct  of  their  officers  and  troops  throughout  the  day. 
On  their  side,  five  hundred  and  seventy  were  killed  or  wound- 
ed ;  and  their  wounded,  dispersed  over  a  wide  space  of  conn- 
try,  asked  for  immediate  care.  Of  the  Americans,  the  loss 
was,  of  continentals,  three  hundred  and  twenty-six;  of  the 
militia,  ninety-three.  But  nearly  three  hundred  of  the  Vir- 
ginia militia  an(^  six  hundred  of  those  of  North  Carolina, 
their  time  of  service  having  almost  expired,  seized  the  occa- 
sion to  return  home. 

Virginia  furnished  to  the  anny  that  fought  at  Guilford 
sixteen  hundred  and  ninety-three  of  her  militia  and  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  of  her  continental  troops.  "The 
great  reinforcements,"  wrote  Cornwallis  to  Germain,  "  sent  by 
Virginia  to  General  Greene  while  General  Arnold  was  in  the 
Chesapeake,  are  convincing  proofs  that  small  expeditions  do 
not  frighten  that  powerful  province."  Its  act  of  magnanimity 
was  deliberate.  "  Your  state,"  wrote  "Washington  to  Jeffer- 
son, its  governor,  "  will  experience  more  molestation ;  but  the 
evils  from  predatory  incursions  are  not  to  be  compared  to  the 
injury  of  the  common  cause.  I  am  persuaded  the  attention  to 
your  immediate  safety  will  not  divert  you  from  the  measures 
intended  to  reinforce  the  southern  anny.  The  late  accession 
of  force  makes  the  enemy  in  Carolina  too  formidable  to  be  re- 
sisted without  powerful  succors  from  Virginia."    And  he  gave 


1781.  THE  SOUTHERN  OAMPA  GN  OF  GREENE. 


495 


orders  to  Steuben :  "  Make  the  defence  of  the  state  as  little  as 
possible  interfere  with  the  measures  for  succoring  Genera] 
Greene.  Everything  is  to  be  apprehended  if  he  is  not  power- 
fully supported  from  VirgiiMa."  Jefferson  made  the  advice 
of  Washington  his  rule  of  conduct,  though  by  it  he  laid  him- 
self open  to  perverse  accusations  in  his  own  state.  On  the 
third  day  after  the  battle  Greene  wrote  to  Washington: 
"  Virginia  has  given  me  every  support  I  could  wish." 

In  his  report  of  the  day  of  Guilford,  Greene  hardly  did 
himself  justice ;  public  opinion  took  no  note  of  his  mistakes 
in  the  order  of  battle.  What  they  did  observe  was  the  forti- 
tude with  which  he  set  about  retrieving  his  defeat. 

On  the  eighteenth,  Cornwallis,  committing  his  wounded 
to  the  care  of  the  Americans,  with  his  victorious  but  ruined 
army  began  his  flight ;  and,  as  he  hurried  away,  distributed 
by  proclamation  news  of  his  victory,  offers  of  pardon  to  re- 
pentant rebels,  and  promises  of  protection  to  the  loyal.  lie 
was  pursued  by  Greene,  who  was  eager  to  renew  the  battle. 
On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  the  Americans  arrived 
at  Kamsay's  Mills,  ou  Deep  river;  but  Cornwallis  had  just  a 
few  hours  before  crossed  the  river  on  a  temporary  bridge. 
No  longer  in  danger  of  being  overtaken,  he  moved  by  way 
of  Cross  creek,  now  Fayettevilie,  toward  Wilmington.  His 
rapid  march  through  a  country  thinly  inhabited  left  no  tracks 
which  the  quickening  of  spring  did  not  cover  over,  except 
where  houses  were  burnt  and  settlements  broken  up.  It 
taught  the  loyalists  of  North  Carolina  that  they  could  find  no 
protection  from  British  generals  or  the  British  king.  All 
North  Carolina,  except  Wilmington,  was  left  to  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

"  From  the  report  of  Cornwallis,"  said  Fox,  on  the  twelfth 
of  June,  to  the  house  of  commons,  "  there  is  the  most  conclu- 
sive evidence  that  the  war  is  impracticable  in  its  object  and 
ruinous  in  its  progress.  In  the  disproportion  between  the  two 
armies,  a  victory  was  highly  to  the  honor  of  our  troops ;  but, 
had  our  army  been  vanquished,  what  course  could  they  have 
taken?  Certainly  they  would  have  abandoned  the  field  of 
action  and  flown  for  refuge  to  the  sea-side;  precisely  the 
measures  the  victorious  army  was  obliged  to  adopt."    And 


■!  i     ■- 


ll  I 


Si'     > 


c 


,!i 


196 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V.  ;  OH.  III. 


ho  moved  the  house  of  commons  to  recommend  to  the  minis- 
ters every  possible  measure  for  concliidinf^  ponce. 

In  the  course  of  the  very  long  debate  the  younger  William 
Pitt,  then  just  twenty-two,  avoiding  the  question  of  independ- 
ence and  thus  unconsciously  conciliating  the  favor  of  George 
III.,  explained  to  a  listening  house  the  principles  and  conduct 
of  his  father  on  American  affairs.  Then,  referring  to  Lord 
Westcote,  he  said:  "A  noble  lord  has  called  the  American 
war  a  holy  war :  I  affirm  that  it  is  a  most  accursed  war,  wicked, 
barba''0v.3,  cruel,  and  uimatural ;  conceived  in  injustice,  it  was 
brought  forth  and  nurtured  in  folly ;  its  footsteps  are  marked 
with  slaughter  and  devastation,  while  it  meditates  destruction 
to  the  miserable  people  who  are  the  devoted  objects  of  the 
resentments  which  produced  it.  The  British  nation,  in  return 
for  its  vital  resources  in  men  and  money,  has  received  inef- 
fective victories  and  severe  defeats,  which  have  "filled  the  land 
with  mourning  for  the  loss  of  dear  relations  slain  in  the  im- 
pious cause  of  enforcing  unconditioni^  submission,  or  narra- 
tives of  the  glorious  exertions  of  men  stniggling  under  all 
difficulties  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty.  Where  is  the  Eng- 
lishman who  can  refrain  from  weeping,  on  whatever  side  vic- 
tory may  be  declared  ? "  The  voice  was  listened  to  as  that  of 
Chatham,  "  again  living  in  his  son  with  all  his  virtues  and  all 
his  talents."  "  America  is  lost,  irrecoverably  lost,  to  this  coun- 
try," added  Fox.  "  We  can  lose  nothing  by  a  vote  dec^^ring 
America  independent."  On  the  division,  an  increased  mi- 
nority revealed  the  growing  discontent  of  the  house  of  com- 
mons at  the  continuance  of  the  war. 

On  the  seventh  of  April,  Cornwallis  brought  the  relics  of 
his  army  to  Wilmington,  where  a  party  sent  by  his  orders 
from  Charleston  awaited  him.  lie  could  not  move  by  land 
toward  Camden  without  ex^oosing  his  troops  to  the  greatest 
chances  of  being  lost.  He  should  have  returned  to  Charleston 
by  watei,  to  retain  possession  of  South  Carolina;  but  such  a 
movement  would  have  published  to  the  world  that  all  his  long 
marches  and  victory  had  led  only  to  disgrace.  A  subordinate 
general,  he  was  sure  of  the  favor  and  approval  of  Germain, 
and  forced  his  plans  on  his  commander-in-chief,  to  whom  he 
wrote :  "  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  wishes  that  the  Chesa- 


1781.  THE  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN  OF  GREENE. 


497 


poiilco  may  bccorno  tlie  seat  of  war,  even,  if  necessary,  at  the 
expense  of  aban(loiiin«r  New  York."  And  without  waiting 
for  an  answer,  in  the  last  clays  of  April,  witli  a  force  of  foui^ 
teen  hundred  and  thirty-five  men,  all  told,  he  left  Wilmington 
for  Virginia.  (Jlinton,  reasoning  justly,  afterwai-d  in  self-de- 
fence replied :  "  Had  you  intimated  the  probability  of  your 
intention,  1  should  certaiidy  have  endeavored  to  stop  you,  as 
1  did  then  consider  such  a  move  likely  to  be  dangerous  to  our 
interests  in  the  southern  colonies."  lie  had  in  April  received 
from  the  secreta-y  this  message:  "Lord  Geoi-ge  CJermain 
strongly  reconnnends  it  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  either  to  remain 
in  good  humor,  in  full  confidence  to  be  supported  as  much  as 
the  nature  of  the  service  will  admit  of,  or  avail  himself  of  the 
leave  of  coming  home,  as  no  good  can  arise  to  the  service  if 
there  is  not  full  confidence  between  the  general  and  the  minis- 
ter." It  was  not  CHnton's  wish  or  intention  to  resign ;  but  he 
hastened  to  warn  Germain:  "Operations  in  the  Chesapeake 
Jire  attended  with  great  risk,  uidess  Wv  are  sure  of  a  perma- 
nent superiority  at  sea.  I  cannot  agree  to  the  opinion  given 
me  by  Lord  Cornwallis.  I  tremble  for  the  fatal  consequences 
which  may  ensue."  But  Cornwallis,  the  subordinate  general, 
had  from  Wilmipgton  written  directly  to  the  secretary  "  that 
a  serious  attempt  upon  Virginia  would  be  the  most  solid  plan ; " 
and  Germain  hastened  to  write  to  Clinton :  "  Lord  Cornwallis's 
opinion  entirely  coincides  with  mine  of  the  great  importance 
of  pushing  the  war  on  the  side  of  Virginia  with  all  the  force 
that  can  be  spared." 

In  his  march  from  Wilmington,  Cornwallis  met  little  resist- 
ance. For  the  place  of  junction  with  the  British  army  in  Vir- 
ginia he  fixed  upon  Petersburg  on  the  Appomattox. 

So  soon  as  Cornwallis  was  beyond  pursuit  Greene  "  deter- 
mined to  carry  the  war  immediately  into  South  Carolina."  Dis- 
missing those  of  the  militia  whose  time  was  about  to  expire,  he 
retained  nearly  eighteen  hundred  men,  with  small  chances  of 
reinforcements  or  of  sufficient  subsistence.  He  knew  the 
hazards  which  he  was  incurring ;  but,  in  case  of  untoward  ac- 
cidents, he  believed  that  Washington  and  his  other  friends 
would  do  justice  to  his  name. 

The  safety  of  'he  interior  of  South  Carolina  depended  on 


m 


1 

I 


m 


498 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       ip.  v.;  cii.  m. 


i  ■    n 


m' 


'i  r 


•I: 


■&Ji 


the  possession  of  the  pests  !it  Cainden  and  Ninety-Six  in  that 
state,  and  at  Au;:^nsta  in  (le()rj.>;!iv.  On  the  sixth  of  April 
Greene  d(!tached  a  fc>rce  under  Lee,  which  joined  Marion,  and 
threatened  the  connections  l)et\veen  Camden  and  Charleston  • 
Sumter,  with  three  small  regiments  of  regular  troops  of  tlie 
state,  luul  in  eliarge  to  hold  the  country  hetween  Camden  and 
Ninety-Six ;  and  Pickens  witl)  ihe  western  militia  to  intercept 
snppUes  on  their  way  to  Ninety-Six  and  Angusta. 

After  these  pre])arations,  Greene  on  the  seventh  began  his 
niarcli  fi-om  Deep  river,  and  on  the  twentieth  encamped  his 
araiy  a  lialf-mile  from  the  strong  and  well-garrisoned  works  of 
Camden.  In  the  hope  of  intercepti  a  party  whoin  Rawdon 
had  sent  out,  Greene  moved  to  tl  (  ith  of  tlie  town;  but 
finding  tliat  he  had  been  misled,  his  aj  y,  on  the  twenty-fourth, 
took  a  well-cliosen  position  on  Ilobkirk's  Hill.  The  emiueuce 
was  covered  with  wood,  and  flanked  on  the  left  by  an  impassa- 
ble swamp.  The  ground  toward  Camden,  M'hich  was  a  mile 
and  a  half  distant,  was  protected  by  a  forest  and  thick  shrub- 
bery ;  but  the  time  given  to  improve  the  strength  of  the  posi- 
tion had  not  been  properly  used.  On  tlie  twenty-eighth  the 
men,  having  been  under  arms  from  daylight,  were  dismissed 
to  receive  provisions  and  prepare  their  morning  repast.  The 
horses  were  unsaddled  and  feeding ;  Greene  was  at  breakfast. 

By  keeping  close  to  the  swamp,  Rawdon,  with  about  nine 
hundred  men,  gained  the  left  of  the  Americans  "in  some 
measure  by  surprise,"  *  and  opened  a  iire  upon  their  pickets. 
The  good  discipline  which  Greene  had  introduced  now  stood 
him  in  stead.  Al)out  two  hundred  and  fifty  North  Carolina 
militia,  who  had  arrived  that  morning,  did  nothing  during  the 
day ;  but  his  cavalry  was  soon  mounted,  and  his  regular  troops, 
about  nine  hundred  and  thirty  in  number,  were  formed  in  order 
of  battle  in  one  line  without  resei"ves.  Of  the  two  Virginia 
regiments,  that  under  Ilawes  formed  the  extreme  right,  that  of 
Campbell  the  right  centre ;  of  the  tvv^o  Maryland  regiments, 
that  of  Ford  occupied  the  extreme  left,  of  Gunby  the  left  cen- 
tre. The  artillery  was  placed  in  the  road  between  the  two  bri- 
gades.    In  this  disposition  he  awaited  the  attack  of  Rawdon. 

Perceiving  that  the  British  advanced  with  a  narrow  front, 
*  Washington's  Diary,  26  May  1790. 


1781.  TUE   SOUTHERN  OAMPAION  OF  GREENE. 


499 


Oreeno  ordered  Ford's  regiment  on  tlio  loft  and  Canipliell's 
on  the  ri<(lit  to  wheel  respectively  on  their  flanks,  the  re«,n- 
ments  of  JIawea  and  Gnnl)y  to  charge  with  bayonets  with- 
out  firing,  and,  with  inconsidt  u  o  confidence  in  gaining  tho 
victory,  vvenl  .ned  himself  irreirievahly  by  sending  AViiliam 
Washington  with  his  cavalry  to  double  the  right  Hank  and 
attack  the  enemy  in  the  rear.  Uiit  Rawdon  had  time  to  extend 
hisfnmt  by  ordering  nj)  his  reserves.  Colonel  Ford,  in  lead- 
ing on  his  men,  was  disabled  by  a  severe  wound  ;  and  his  regi- 
ment, without  ex  uting  their  orders,  (mly  replied  by  a  loose 
scattering  fire,  Ci  the  other  flank  the  regiment  of  Campbell, 
composed  of  new  roops,  could  not  stand  the  brunt  of  the 
enemy,  though  they  could  be  rallied  and  formed  anew.  Greene 
led  up  tho  regiments  several  times  in  pei-son.  The  regiments 
tmder  Ilawes  and  Gunby  advanced  with  courage,  while  the 
artillery  played  effectively  on  the  head  of  the  British  column. 
But,  on  the  right  of  Gunby's  regiment.  Captain  Beatty,  an  offi- 
cer of  the  greatest  merit,  fell  mortally  wounded ;  his  company, 
left  without  his  load,  began  to  waver,  and  the  wavering  affected 
the  next  company.  Seeing  this,  Gunby  ordered  the  regiment 
to  retire,  that  they  might  form  again.  Tho  Britisii  troops, 
seizing  the  opportunity,  broke  through  the  American  centre, 
advanced  to  the  summit  of  the  ridge,  brought  their  whole  force 
into  action  on  the  best  ground,  and  forced  Greene  to  retreat. 
The  battle  was  over  before  William  AVashlngton  with  his  cav- 
alry could  make  the  circuit  through  the  forest  to  attack  their 
rear.     Each  party  lost  about  three  hundred  men. 

Rawdon  returned  tj  Camden,  followed  by  tho  congratula- 
tions of  Comwallis  on  "  his  most  glorious  victory,"  which  the 
general,  forgetting  King's  Mountain  and  the  Cowpens,  de- 
scribed as  "  by  far  the  most  splendid  of  this  war."  "  The 
disgrace,"  w^ote  Greene,  "  is  more  vexatious  than  anything 
else."  He  lost  no  more  than  the  British,  saved  his  artillery,  and 
collected  all  Lis  men.  Receiving  a  reinforcement  of  five  hun- 
dred, Rawdon  crossed  the  Wateree  in  pursuit  of  him ;  but  he 
kept  his  enemy  at  bay. 

Ko  sooner  had  Marion  been  reinforced  by  Lee  than  th<>y 
marched  against  the  fort  on  Wiight's  ])luff  below  Camden,  the 
principal  post  of  the  Britioh  on  the  Santee,  garrisoned  by  one 


500 


THE  AMERICAN  IlEVOLUTION. 


Ki'.  V. ;  on.  m. 


! 


I    It 


I  i 


ji 


*  ■  m 


huTKired  and  foiirtooii  iricn.  Tlie  Ainoricaiis  were  witliout 
cuniioii,  and  the  hlull'  was  forty  feet  liigli ;  but  the  forest 
stretched  all  around  tlieni;  iu  the  ni^ht  the  troops  cut  and 
hauK'd  lo«>^s,  and  erected  a  tower  so  tull  tliat  the  garrison  could 
be  picked  oil'  by  rlllenien.  Two  days  before  the  buttle  of  llob- 
kirk\s  Ilill  it  cai)itulati.'d. 

The  connection  of  Camden  with  (Charleston  1)ein^  thus 
broken,  the  j)ost  became  untenable.  On  the  tenth  of  May, 
after  destroying  all  public  buildings  and  stores  and  many  pri- 
vate houses,  tlie  Ih-itish  abandoned  Camden,  never  to  hold  it 
again.  On  the  eleventh  the  i)ost  at  Orangeburg,  held  by 
sixty  British  militia  and  twelve  regulars,  gave  itself  up  to 
Sumter.  liawdon  marched  down  the  Santce  on  the  north  side 
anxious  to  save  the  garrison  of  Fort  Motte,  to  which  Marion 
had  laid  siege.  To  hasten  its  surrender,  Rebecca  Motto,  the 
owner  of  the  house  in  wliich  they  were  quartered,  on  the 
twelfth  brought  into  camp  a  bow  and  a  bundle  of  Indian 
arrows;  and,  when  the  arrows  had  carried  tire  to  her  own 
abode,  the  garrison  of  a  hundred  and  sixty -live  men  surren- 
dered. Two  days  later  the  British  evacuated  their  ])ost  at 
Nelson's  ferry.  On  the  fifteenth  Fort  (Iranby,  with  three  hun- 
dred and  iifty-tw(»  men,  surrendered  by  capitulation.  General 
Marion  turned  his  arms  against  (leorgetown;  and,  on  the  first 
night  after  the  Americans  luul  broken  ground,  the  British  re- 
treated to  Charleston.  The  troops  under  Kawdon  did  not  halt 
until  they  reacl'xl  JMonk's  Corner. 

The  north-western  part  of  South  Carolina  was  thus  recov- 
ered, but  the  British  still  held  Augusta  and  Ninety-Six.  Con- 
forming to  the  i)lan  which  Greene  had  forwarded  from  Beep 
river.  General  Bickens  and  Colonel  Clarke  with  militia  kej)t 
watch  over  Augusta.  On  the  twentieth  of  May  they  were 
joined  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lee.  The  outposts  were  taken 
one  after  another,  and  on  the  fifth  of  Juno  the  main  fort  with 
about  three  Inmdi-ed  nu'u  capitulated.  One  ofticer,  obnoxious 
for  his  cruelties,  fell  after  the  surrender  by  an  unknown  hand. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Brown,  the  connnander,  had  himself  hanged 
thirteen  American  prisoners,  and  delivered  citizens  of  Georgia 
to  the  Cherol^'ees  to  sull'er  death  with  all  the  ex(piisitc  tortures 
which  savage  barbarity  could  contrive ;  but  on  his  way  to  Sa- 


1781. 


THE  SOUTHERN   CAMPAIGN   OF  GREENE. 


501 


vaniiiili  an  escort  protected  liim  from  tlie  inliabitants  wLosc 
houses  ho  had  burnt,  wliose  kindred  he  had  sent  to  the  gal- 
lows. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  May,  Greene,  with  Kosciunzlvo  foi 
his  engineer,  and  nine  hundred  and  eiglity-fotn-  men,  began 
the  siege  of  Ninety-Six.  The  post,  thougli  mounting  hut 
three  pieces  of  artillery,  was  strongly  fortified  ;  five  hundred 
and  fifty  men  formed  its  ample  garrison ;  and  the  commander, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  C:!rug(!r,  was  an  officer  of  al)ility  and  enter- 
prise. A  fleet  from  Ireland  having  arrived  at  Charleston  with 
reinforcements,  liawdon  on  the  seventh  of  Juno  marched  with 
two  thousand  men  to  secure  a  safe  retreat  for  the  garrison. 
Giving  way  to  an  eagerness  to  gain  a  victory,  Greene  on  the 
eighteenth  gave  to  a  party  of  IVlarylanders  and  of  Virginians 
the  hopel(!,ss  order  to  force  a  lodgment  in  the  fort,  in  which 
no  justifying  breach  had  been  made.  Of  the  brave  men  whom 
ho  so  rashly  sent  into  the  ditch,  one  third  were  killed,  and  but 
one  in  six  came  out  unwounded.  The  next  day  the  general 
raised  the  siege  and  withdrew  to  the  North,  complaining  of 
fortune  which  had  refused  him  victory  at  Guilford,  at  Cam- 
den, and  at  Ninety-Six. 

Greene  retreated  as  far  as  the  Enoree.  Rawdon,  giving 
over  pursuit  and  adhering  to  his  purpose,  withdrew  the  garri- 
son from  the  insulated  post  of  Ninety-Six.  Leaving  the  largest 
part  of  his  force  to  assist  in  removing  the  loyal  inhabitants  of 
the  district,  he  marched  with  a  thousand  men  to  establish  a 
post  on  the  Congaree.  Greene  followed;  and  his  cavalry, 
while  watching  the  enemy's  motions,  made  prisoners  of  forty- 
eight  British  dragoons  within  one  mile  of  their  encampment. 

Avoiding  an  encounter,  Lord  Rawdon  retired  to  Orange- 
burg, where  he  was  reinforced.  On  the  other  side,  Greene, 
after  forming  a  junction  witli  the  men  of  Sumter  and  Marion, 
pursued  him,  and  on  the  twelfth  of  July  offered  him  battle. 
The  offer  was  refused.  On  the  thirteenth,  Greene  detached 
the  cavah-y  of  the  legion,  the  state  troops  and  militia  of  South 
Carolina,  to  compel  tlie  evacuation  of  Orangeburg  by  striking 
at  the  posts  around  Charleston;  the  rest  of  the  army  was 
ordered  to  the  high  hills  of  the  Santce,  famed  for  pure  air 
and  pure  water.     On  the  same  day  the  force  with  Cruger,  whc 


if 

s 


^^'^'ll 


!   I 


.!*!' 


502  THE  AMERICAN  EEVOLUTION.        ep.  v. ;  ch.  iii. 

had  evacuated  Ninety-Six,  joined  Rawdon  with  his  troops.  He 
had  called  around  him  the  royalists  in  the  district  and  set 
before  them  the  option  of  making  their  peace  with  the  Ameri- 
cans or  fleeing  under  his  escort  to  Charleston.  Once  more  loy- 
alists who  had  signalized  themselves  by  devoted  service  to  the 
king  learaed  from  his  officer  that  he  could  no  longer  protect 
them  in  their  own  homes.  Forced  to  elect  the  lot  of  refugees, 
they  brought  into  the  camp  of  Cruger  their  wives,  children, 
and  slaves,  wagons  laden  with  the  little  of  their  property  that 
they  could  carry  away,  sure  *o  bo  pushed  aside  by  the  Eng- 
lish at  Charleston  as  troubloo  me  guests,  and  left  to  wretched- 
ness and  despair. 

The  British,  when  united,  were  superior  in  number;  but 
their  detachments  were  attacked  with  success.     They  could 
not  give  the  protection   which   they  had  promised,  and  the 
people  saw  no  hope  of  peace  except  by  driving  them  out  of 
the  land.     "Weary  of  ceaseless  turmoil,  Rawdon  repaired  to 
Charleston,  and,  pretending  ill  health,  sailed  for  England,  but 
not  till  after  a  last  act  of  vengeful  inhumanity.     Isaac  Ilayne, 
a  planter  in  the  low  country  Avhose  affections  were  always  with 
America,  had,  after  the  fall  of  Charleston,  obtained  British 
protection ;  at  the  same  time  he  avowed  his  resolve  never  to 
meet  a  call  for  military  service  under  the  British  flag.    Wlieu 
the  British  lost  the  part  of  the  country  in  which  he  resided 
and  could  protect  him  no  longer,  he  resumed  his  American  citi- 
zenship and  led  a  regiment  of  militia  against  them.     Taken 
prisoner,  Balfour  hesitated  what  to  do  with  him ;  but  Rawdon, 
who  was  Balfour's  superior  in  command,  had  no  sooner  arrived 
in  Charleston  than,  against  the  entreaties  of  the  children  of 
Ilayne,  of  the  women  of  Charioston,  of  the  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  province,  he  sent  him  to  the  gallows.     The  execution 
was  illegal ;  for  the  loss  of  power  to  protect  forfeited  the  right 
to  enforce  allegiance.     It  was  most  impolitic ;  for  in  moderate 
men  it  uprooted  all  remai'iing  attachment  to  the  English  gov- 
ernment, and  roused  the  women  of  Charleston  to  implacable 
defiance.     After  the  departure  of  Rawdon  there  remained  in 
South  Carolina  no  British  oiFicer  who  woull  have  acted  in  like 
manner.     Ilis  flrst  excuse  for  the  execution  was  the  order  of 
Comwallis  which  had  filled  the  woods  of  Carolina  with  assas- 


III 

i 


1781.  TOE  SOUTHERN  CAMPAIGN  OF  GREENE. 


503 


sing.  Feeling  tlie  act  as  a  stain  npon  his  name,  he  attempted, 
l)ut  not  till  after  the  death  of  Balfour,  to  throw  on  that  officer 
the  blame  that  belonged  to  himself.  On  the  voyage  to  Eng- 
land he  was  captured  by  the  French. 

After  a  short  rest,  Greene  moved  his  army  from  the  hills 
of  Santee  in  a  roundabout  way  to  attack  the  British  at  their 
post  near  the  junction  of  the  Wateree  and  Congaree.  They 
retreated  before  him,  and  halted  at  Eutaw  Springs.  He  con- 
tinued the  pursuit  with  so  mu.h  skill  that  the  British  remained 
ignorant  of  his  advance.  At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  eighth  of  September  his  army  was  in  motion  to  attack 
them.  The  centre  of  the  front  line  was  composed  of  two  small 
battalions  from  North  Carolina,  and  of  one  from  South  Caro- 
lina on  each  wing,  commanded,  respectively,  by  Marion  and 
Pickens.  The  second  line  was  formed  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  continentals  of  North  Carolina,  led  by  General  Sumner ; 
of  an  equal  number  of  Virginians,  commanded  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Campbell ;  and  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  Marylanders, 
under  Otho  Williams.  Long  and  gallantly  did  the  militia  main- 
tain the  action,  those  with  Marion  and  Pickens  proving  them- 
selves equal  to  the  best  veterans.  As  they  began  to  be  over- 
powered by  numbers,  they  were  sustained  by  the  North  Caro- 
lina brigade  under  Sumner,  while  the  Virginians  under  Camp- 
bell and  the  IVrarylanders  under  Williams  charged  with  the 
bayonet.  The  British  were  routed.  On  a  party  that  prepared 
to  rally,  William  Washington  l)ore  down  with  his  cavalry  and 
a  small  body  of  infantry,  and  drove  them  from  the  field. 
Great  numbers  of  the  British  fell,  or  w^ere  made  prisoners. 

Many  of  the  Americans  who  joined  in  the  shouts  of  triumph 
were  doomed  to  bleed.  A  bi-ick  house  sheltered  tne  British 
as  they  fled.  Against  the  house  Greene  ordered  artillcjry  to 
play  from  open  ground  ;  the  gunners  were  shot  down  by  rifle- 
men, and  the  field-pieces  abandoned  to  the  enemy.  Upon  a 
party  in  an  adjacent  wood  of  barren  oaks,  of  a  species  whose 
close,  stiff  branches  by  their  stubbornness  made  cavalry  hel]->less, 
Greene  for  a  slight  object  ordered  William  Wasliington  to 
charge  with  his  horsemen ;  the  order  was  obeyed,  and  the  ex- 
cellent officer,  to  whom  belonged  so  much  of  the  glory  of  the 
campaign,  waa  wounded,  disabled,  and  taken  prisoner.      So 


hi'i 


''■       I 


1   ,  J 

I   '•  • 


i  1    !   :    ■ 


604 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       £p.  v. ;  en.  ni. 


!1  •{ 


n 


.  I 


It 


lliipf 


M 


there  were  at  Eutaw  two  successive  engagements.  In  the  first 
Greene  won  a  brilliant  victory  and  with  little  loss ;  in  the  sec- 
ond, his  own  hasty  orders  brought  ujion  himself  a  defeat,  with 
the  death  or  capture  of  many  of  his  bravest  men.  In  the 
two  engagements  the  Americans  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing,  five  hundred  and  fifty-four  men ;  they  took  five  hun- 
dred prisoners,  including  the  wounded ;  and  the  total  loss  of 
the  British  approached  one  thousand. 

The  cause  of  the  United  States  was  the  cause  of  Ireland. 
Among  the  fruits  of  their  battles  was  the  recovery  for  the 
Irish  of  her  equal  riglits  in  trade  and  legislation.  Yet  such 
is  the  complication  in  human  afiairs  that  the  people  who  of  all 
others  should  have  been  found  t?>ing  part  with  America  sent 
against  them  some  of  their  best  troops  and  their  ablest  men. 
Irishmen  fought  in  the  I'ritish  ranks  at  Eutaw.  Lord  Edward 
Fitzgerald,  who  received  on  this  day  wounds  that  were  all  but 
mortal,  had  in  later  years  no  consolation  for  his  share  in  the 
conflict ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  I  was  then  fighting  against  liberty." 

Occupying  the  field  of  battle  by  a  strong  picket,  Greene 
drew  ojff  to  his  morning's  camp,  where  his  troops  could  have 
the  refreshment  of  pure  water,  ai.d  prepare  to  renew  the  at- 
tack. But  the  British  in  the  night,  after  destroying  stores  and 
breaking  in  pieces  a  thousand  muskets,  retreated  to  Charleston, 
leaving  seventy  of  their  wounded.  Resting  one  or  two  days, 
Greene  Avith  his  troops,  which  were  wasted  not  only  by  battle, 
but  by  tlie  climate,  regained  his  old  position  on  the  heights  of 
Santeo.  From  Morris,  the  financier,  he  received  good  words 
and  little  else ;  but  his  own  fortitude  never  failed  him.  lie 
says  of  liimself :  "  "We  fight,  get  beaten,  and  fight  again." 
lie  had  been  in  command  less  than  ten  months ;  and  in  tl:at 
time  the  three  southern  states  were  recovered,  excepting  only 
Wilmington  which  was  soon  after  evacuated,  Charleston,  and 
Savannah.  The  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  at  its  next 
meeting,  in  testimony'  of  its  approbation  and  gratitude,  voted 
him  an  estate  in  their  "country"  of  the  value  of  ten  thou- 
sand guineas.  To  this  Georgia  added  five  thousand  guineas, 
and  North  Carolina  four-and-twonty  thousand  acres  of  the 
most  fertile  land  in  Tennessee. 


1!  I 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  TUE  AMERICAN  WAR. 


505 


CHAPTEH  IV. 

THE   LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF   THE   AMERICAN  WAR. 
1781. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  persevered  in  tlie  purpose  of  holding 
a  station  in  the  Chesapeake  bay ;  and,  on  the  second  of  Janu- 
ary 1781,  Arnold,  with  sixteen  hundred  men,  appeared  by  his 
order  in  the  James  river.     The  generous  commonwealth  of 
Virginia  having  sent  its  best  troops  and  arms  to  the  more 
southern  states,  Governor  Jefferson  promptly  called  the  whole 
militia  from  the  adjacent  counties ;  but,  in  the  region  of  plant- 
ers with  slaves,  there  were  not  freemen  enough  at  hand  to 
meet  the  invaders.     Arnold  offered  to  spare  Richmond  if  he 
might  unmolested  carry  off  its  stores  of  tobacco ;  the  proposal 
being  rejected  with  scorn,  on  the  fifth  and  sixth  its  houses 
and  stores,  public  and  private,  were  set  on  fire.     Washington 
used  liis  knowledge  of  the  lowlands  of  Virginia  to  form  for 
the  capture  of  Arnold  a  plan  of  which  the  success  seemed  to 
him  certain.     From  his  own  army  he  detached  about  twelve 
hundred  men  of  the  N'ew  England  and  New  Jersey  lines  under 
the  command  of  Lafayette,  and  asked  the  combined  aid  of  the 
whole  French  fleet  at  Newport  and  a  detachment  from  the  land 
forces  under  Rochambeau.     But  d'Estouches,  the  French  ad- 
miral, had  already  sent  out  a  sixty-four-gun  ship  and   two 
frigates,  and  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  put  to  sea  with  tho 
residue  of  tho  fleet.     The  ships-of-war,  which  arrived  safely 
in  the  Chesapeake,  having  no  land  troops,  could  not  reach 
Arnold ;  but,  on  their  way  back  to  Rhode  Island,  they  captured 
a  British   fifty-gun   frigate.     Washington,  on   the   sixth   of 
March,  met  Rochambeau  and  d'Estouches  in  council  on  board 


\f. 


i  * 


506 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  CH.  IV. 


t 


!  ! 


f      t 


^|»: 


J 


r 


ukl: 


tlae  flag-sliip  of  tlie  French  admiral  at  Newport,  and  tte  plan 
of  "Washington,  for  a  combined  expedition  of  the  French  fleet 
and  land  forces  into  Virginia,  was  adopted.  But  the  execu- 
tion of  the  plan  was  too  slow ;  the  benefit  of  a  fair  wind  and 
of  a  day  were  lost,  so  that  Arbuthnot,  with  the  British  fleet, 
overtook  them  off  the  capes  of  Virginia.  A  partial  engage- 
ment ensued  for  an  hour.  On  the  next  day  the  French,  ad- 
vised by  its  council  of  war  not  to  renew  the  action,  returned 
to  Newport ;  while  the  British  sailed  into  the  Chesajjeake. 

On  the  twenty -sixth  of  March,  General  Phillips,  wlio 
brought  from  New  York  a  reinforcement  of  two  thousand 
picked  men,  took  the  command  in  Virginia.  All  the  stores  of 
produce  which  its  planters  in  five  quiet  years  had  accumulated 
were  carried  off  or  destroyed.  Their  negroes,  so  desired  in 
the  West  Indies,  formed  the  staple  article  of  plunder. 

By  a  courier  from  Washington  Lafayette  received  infor- 
mation that  Virginia  was  to  become  the  centre  of  active  opera- 
tions, and  was  instructed  to  defend  the  state  as  well  as  his 
means  woidd  permit.  His  troops,  who  were  chiefly  from  New 
England,  dreaded  the  climate  of  lower  Virginia,  and,  besides, 
were  destitute  of  everything ;  yet  when  Lafayette,  from  the 
south  side  of  the  Susquehanuah,  in  an  order  of  the  day,  ofl^ered 
leave  to  any  of  them  to  return  to  the  North,  not  one  would 
abandon  him.  At  Baltimore  he  borrowed  two  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  supplied  his  men  with  shoes  and  hats,  and  bought 
linen,  w^hich  the  women  of  Baltimore  made  into  summer  gar- 
ments. Then,  by  a  forced  march  of  two  hundred  miles,  he 
arrived  at  Richmond  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  April,  the  even- 
ing before  Phillips  reached  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river. 
Having  in  the  night  been  coined  by  Steuben  with  militia, 
Lafayette  was  able  to  hold  in  check  the  larger  British  force. 
The  line  of  Pennsylvania  was  detained  in  that  state  week  after 
week  for  needful  supplies ;  while  Clinton,  stimulated  by  Ger- 
main's praises  of  the  activity  of  Cornwallis,  sent  another  con- 
siderable detachment  to  Virginia. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  ]\Iay,  General  Phillips  died  of  malig- 
nant fever.  Arnold,  on  whom  the  conunand  devolved,  though 
only  L'or  seven  days,  addressed  a  letter  to  Lafayette,  Avho  re- 
turned it,  refusing   tu  correspond  with  a  traitor.     Arnold 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGJf  OF  TUE  AMERICAN  WAR. 


507 


rejoined  by  tlircatening  to  send  to  the  Antilles  all  Ameri- 
can prisoners,  unless  a  cartel  should  be  immediately  concluded. 
On  the  twentieth  Cornwallis  arrived  at  Petersburg,  and  or- 
dered Arnold  back  to  oS'e^  York. 

Clinton  detached  him  once  more,  and  this  time  against  his 
native  state.  On  the  sixth  of  September  his  party  landed  on 
each  side  of  New  London.  The  town  was  plundered  and 
burnt.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river  Colonel  Ledyard  and 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  ill-armeo  militia-men  defended 
Fort  Griswold  on  Groton  Ilill  for  forty  minutes  with  the 
greatest  resolution.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eyre,  who  command- 
ed the  British  assailants,  was  wounded  near  the  works,  and 
Major  Montgomery  was  killed  innnediately  after.  When  Led- 
yard had  surrendered.  Major  Bromfield,  on  whom  the  British 
command  had  devolved,  ran  him  V  rough  with  his  sword,  and 
refused  quarter  to  the  garrison.  ,  seventy-three  of  them  were 
killed,  and  more  than  thirty  wounded ;  about  forty  were  cai-- 
ried  off  as  prisoners.  AVith  this  expedition,  Arnold  disappears 
from  history. 

Cornwallis  now  found  himself  where  he  had  so  persistently 
desired  to  be— in  Virginia,  at  the  head  of  seven  thousand  effect- 
ive men,  with  not  a  third  of  that  number  to  oppose  him  by 
land,  and  with  undisputed  command  of  the  water.  "  Want- 
ing  a  rudder  in  the  storm,"  said  Richard  Henry  Lee,  "  the 
good  ship  must  inevitably  be  cast  away ; "  and  he  proposed  to 
send  for  General  Washington  innnediately  and  invest  liira 
with  "dictatorial  powers."  But  Jefferson  reasoned:  "The 
thought  alone  of  creating  a  dictator  is  treason  against  man- 
kind, giving  to  their  oppressors  a  proof  of  the  imbecility  of 
republican  government  in  times  of  pressing  danger.  The 
government,  instead  of  being  braced  for  greater  exertions, 
would  be  thrown  back."  As  governor  of  Virginia,  speaking 
for  its  people  and  representing  their  distresses,  he  wTote  to 
Washington:  "Could  you  lend  us  your  personal  aid?  The 
presence  of  their  beloved  countryman  would  restore  full  con- 
fidence, and  render  them  equal  to  whatever  is  not  impossible. 
Should  you  repair  to  your  native  state,  the  difficulty  would 
then  be  how  to  keep  men  out  of  the  field." 

Durmg  the  summer,  congress,  against  the  opinion  of  Samuel 

VOL.  v.— 34 


t.    1 1 

;      <   1 


!;„ 


[if 


'A\ 


i>ll 


608  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION^.       Ep.v.;on.iv. 

Adams  and  without  aid  from  Maspaclm setts,  substituted  for  its 
own  executive  committees  a  single  chief  in  each  of  the  most 
important  departments.  Robert  IVIorris  was  placed  in  chum-e 
of  the  finances  of  the  confederation ;  in  conformity  with  the 
wish  of  the  French  minister,  which  was  ably  sustained  by  Sul- 
livan, the  conduct  of  foreign  affaii-s  was  intrusted  to  Eobert 
Livingston  of  New  York.  Washington  "^ould  have  gladly 
seen  Schuyler  at  the  head  of  the  war  department. 

Outside  of  rongress,  Hamilton  persevered  in  recommend- 
ing an  efficient  government.  His  views  were  so  identical 
with  those  of  Eobert  Morris  that  it  is  sometimes  hard  to  say 
in  whose  mind  they  first  spnmg  up.  They  both  laid  the 
greatest  stress  on  the  institution  of  a  national  bank ;  the  opin- 
ion ihat  a  national  debt  is  a  national  blessing  was  carried  by 
Morris  to  a  most  perilous  extreme. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  continued  to  languish  for  the  want 
of  a  central  government.  In  the  states  from  which  the  most 
was  hoped,  Hancock  of  Massachusetts  was  neglectful  of  busi- 
ness; Reed,  the  president  of  Pennsylvania,  was  more  ready  to 
recount  what  the  state  had  done  than  undertake  to  do  more ; 
so  that  the  army  was  not  wholly  free  from  the  danger  of  being 
disbanded  for  want  of  subsistence.  Of  the  armed  vessels  of 
the  United  States,  all  but  two  frigates  had  been  taken  or  de- 
stroyed. 

Madison  persevered  in  the  effort  to  obtain  power  for  con- 
gress to  collect  a  revenue,  and  a  committee  was  named  to 
examine  into  the  changes  which  needed  to  be  made  in  the 
articles  of  confederation.  "The  difliculty  of  continuing  the 
war  under  them,"  so  wrote  Luzerne,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 
August,  "  proves  the  necessity  of  reforming  them ;  they  were 
produced  at  an  epoch  when  the  mere  name  of  authority  in- 
spired terror,  and  by  men  who  thought  to  make  themselves 
agreeable  to  the  people.  I  can  scarcely  persuade  myself  that 
they  will  come  to  an  agreement  on  this  matter.  Some  persons 
even  believe  that  the  existing  constitution,  all  vicious  as  it  is, 
can  be  changed  only  by  some  violent  revolution." 

The  French  government  declined  to  furnish  means  for  the 
siege  of  New  York.  After  tlie  arrival  of  its  final  instnictions, 
Rochambeau,  attended  by  Chastellux,  in  a  meeting  with  Wash- 


\ 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR.    509 

ington  at  Weathersfield  on  tlic  twenty-first  of  May,  settled  the 
preliminaries  of  the  campaign.  The  French  land  force  was 
to  march  to  the  Hudson  river,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the 
American  army,  be  ready  to  move  to  the  southward.  De 
(Jrasse  was  charged  anew  on  his  way  to  the  North  to  enter  tht) 
Chesapeake.  In  the  direction  of  the  war  for  the  coming  sea- 
son there  woxdd  be  union ;  for  congress  had  lodged  the  high- 
est power  in  the  northern  and  southern  departments  in  the 
hands  of  Washington,  and  France  had  magnaniuiously  placed 
her  troops  under  his  command. 

Before  his  return,  the  American  general  called  upon  the 
governors  of  the  New  England  states,  "in  earnest  and  pointed 
terms,"  to  complete  their  continental  battalions,  to  hold  bodies 
of  militia  ready  to  march  in  a  week  after  being  called  for,  and 
to  adopt  ellective  modes  of  supply.  Governor  Trumbull  of 
Connecticut  cheered  him  with  the  opinion  that  he  would  olv 
tain  all  that  he  needed. 

In  June  the  French  contingent,  increased  by  fifteen  hun- 
dred men  newly  arrived  in  ships-of-war,  left  Newport  for  the 
Hudson  river.  The  inhabitants  crowded  around  them  on  their 
march,  glad  to  recognise  in  them  allies  and  defenders.  The 
rights  of  private  property  were  scrupulously  respected,  and  the 
petty  exigencies  of  local  laws  good-naturedly  submitted  to. 

Cornwallis  began  his  career  on  the  James  river  in  Virginia 
by  seizing  horses,  which  were  of  the  best  breed,  and  mornt^ 
ing  five  or  six  hundred  men.  lie  then  started  in  pursuit  of 
Lafayette,  who,  with  about  one  thousand  continental  troops, 
was  posted  between  Wilton  and  Eichmond,  waiting  for  rein- 
forcements from  Pennsylvania.  "Lafayette  cannot  escape 
him,"  wrote  Clinton  to  Germain.  The  youthful  major-gen- 
eral wai-ily  kept  to  the  north  of  his  pursuer;  and  on  the 
seventh  of  June  made  a  junction  with  Wayne  not  far  from 
Eaccoon  ford.  Small  as  Mas  his  force,  he  compared  the 
British  in  Virginia  to  the  French  in  the  German  kingdom  of 
Hanover  at  the  time  of  the  seven  years'  war,  and  confidently 
predicted  analogous  results.  Cornwallis  advanced  as  far  as 
the  court-house  of  the  Virginia  county  of  Hanover,  then 
crossed  South  Anna,  and,  not  encountering  Lafayette,  en- 
camiied  ou   the  James  river,  from  the  Point  of  Ibrk  to  a 


'■ii   ■ 


■  :  i 


610 


THE  AMF.UICAN   KKVOLUTION. 


Ki'.  V. ;  en.  IV. 


']-n 


t;.  I 


h  I 


V 


-     i 


littli!  lu'low  the  iiunith  of  I^.ynl  creek.  For  tlio  next  ton  duvfl 
hiH  lioii(l-(iuarter8  weru  at  KIk  Hill,  on  a  plantation  bcloiii^MiiL' 
to  lU'lVcDion. 

Two  cxpoditionH  wore  undertaken.  Willi  one  l\undred  and 
oiglity  dragoons  and  forty  mounted  infantry,  Tarli'ton,  destroy- 
ing public  stores  on  the  way,  rode  Kovonty  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours  to  Charlottesville,  where  the  Virginia  assemhly 
was  Ihen  in  session  ;  hut  the  assembly,  having  reeeivi^l  warn- 
ing, had  adjourned  to  the  valli>y  beyond  the  IJlne  Ridge,  and 
.Jeirei-son  had  gone  to  the  moinitains  on  horseback.  Tliu 
dragoons  overtook  bovou  of  the  legislature ;  otherwise,  the 
expedition  was  fruitless. 

Sinieoe,  with  a  party  of  mixed  troops,  was  sent  to  destroy 
stores  over  which  Steubon  with  a  few  more  than  tive  hundred 
men  kei)t  guard.  Steuben  had  transported  his  magazine 
across  the  Muvanna,  and  the  water  was  too  dee[)  to  bo  forded. 

Tarleton  sulTered  nothing  of  Jeirei*son's  at  Montieello  to 
bo  injured.  At  Elk  Hill,  under  the  eye  of  Cornwallis,  all  his 
barns  and  fences  were  burnt;  tlie  growing  crops  destroyed; 
the  fields  laid  absohitely  waste ;  the  throats  cut  of  all  horses 
that  were  too  young  for  service,  and  the  rest  carried  oil.  Ho 
took  away  about  thirty  slaves,  not  to  receive  freedom,  but  to 
suffer  from  a  worse  form  of  slaveiy  in  the  AVest  Indies.  The 
rest  of  the  neighborhood  was  treated  in  like  numner,  but  with 
loss  of  malice. 

In  the  march  of  the  British  ai-my  from  Elk  Hill  dow^n  the 
river  to  Williamsburg,  where  it  arrived  on  the  twenty -liftli  of 
Juro,  all  dwelling-houses  were  plundered.  The  band  of 
Lafayette  hung  upon  its  rear,  but  could  not  prevent  its  depre- 
dations. The  Americans  of  that  day  computed  that  Cornwallis, 
in  his  midsummer  marchings  up  and  down  Virginia,  destroyed 
property  to  the  value  of  three  million  jiounds  sterling.  lie 
nowhere  gained  a  foothold,  and  his  long  marches  thoroughly 
taught  him  that  the  people  were  bent  on  independence. 

At  Williamsburg,  to  his  amazement  and  chagrin,  he  re- 
ceived orders  from  his  chief  to  ser.d  back  to  New  York  about 
three  thousand  men.  Clinton's  letter  of  the  eleventh  exjiressod 
his  fear  of  being  attacked  in  New  York  by  more  than  twenty 
thousand ;  there  was,  he  said,  no  possibility  of  re-establishing 


1781.  TIIK   LAST  CAMPAKJN   OF  TIIR  AMKRICAN   WAU.    DIl 

order  in  Viri^'inia,  bo  Rcnoral  was  tl.o  cHflafrootif)ri  to  Groat 
Tlritain;  ConiwalliH  hIiouIcI  tliorcforc  take  u  dofeiisivo  Hituar 
tion  HI  any  healthy  station  ho  nii^rhf,  chooHo,  Ix!  it  at  Williams- 
biirf^^or  Y(.rl<t(.wn.  On  the  liftconth  ho  wrote  further:  "I 
do  not  think  itadvisahle  to  leave  more  trof.ps  in  that  unheahhy 
chrnato  at  this  Heason  of  the  year  tlian  are  ah,sohit.>ly  wanted 
for  a  defensive  and  a  deHultory  water  expedition."  "  Dc 
GraH80,"Ho  lie  continued  on  the  nineteenth,  « will  visit  tliis 
coast  in  the  liurri{;ano  season,  and  bring  with  liim  troops  us 
well  as  ships.  F^ut,  when  he  hears  tliat  your  lonlship  has 
taken  ])OHsession  of  York  river  before  him,  I  tliink  that  their 
first  efforts  will  he  in  this  quarter.  I  am,  iiowever,  under  no 
great  ai)preliensions,  as  Sir  George  liodney  seems  to  have  tlie 
fiamc  suspicions  of  de  (Jrasse's  intention  that  we  have,  and  will 
of  conrse  follow  him  hither." 

From  this  time  the  hate  which  had  hm^r  existed  between 
tlio  hcutenant-general  and  the  commander-in-chief  showed 
Itself  without  much  reserve.  Cornwallis  was  eager  to  step 
into  tlie  chief  command;  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  tliough  he  had 
threatened  to  throw  up  his  i)lace,  clung  to  it  tenaciously,  and 
relates  of  himself  that  he  would  not  be  "duped"  by  his  rival 
into  resii^ninir. 

"  To  your  opinions  it  is  my  duty  implicitly  to  submit,"  was 
the  answer  of  Cornwallis  to  the  orders  of  Clinton  ;  ai.  .  on  tlie 
fourth  of  July  he  began  his  march  to  Portsmouth.     On  that 
day  the  royal  army  arrived  near  James  Island,   and  in  the 
evening  the  advanced  guard  reached  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
James  river.     Two  or  three  more  days  were  required  to  carry 
over  all  the  stores  and  the  troops.     Lafayette  with  his  small 
army  followed  at  a  distance.     Beside  fifteen  hundred  regular  ' 
troops,  equal  to  the  best  in  the  royal  army,  he  drew  to  his  side 
as  vohmtecrs  gallant  young  men  mounted  on  their  own  horses 
from  Maryland  and  Virginia.     Youth  and  generosity,  courage 
and  jmidcnce,  were  his  spells  of  persuasion.     Ilis  perceptions 
wore  quick,  his  vigilance  never  failed,  and  in  his  methods  of 
gaining  information  of  the  movements  of  the  enemy  he  ex- 
celled every  officer  in  the  war  except  Washington  and  Mor- 
gan.    All  accounts  bear  testimony  to  his  caution.    Of  his  self- 
ision  in  daui 


po 


he  was  soon  called 


upon  to  give  proof. 


1 

,;i;. 

III  I: 


1 

i  '■ 

! 

ii!' 

■   f 

, 

M 

^wi'H 


512 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.        EP.v.;on.rv. 


I  " 


On  the  sixth,  Lafiiyetto  judged  correctly  that  the  great 
body  of  the  iirltish  army  was  still  on  the  nortli  side  of  tuo 
James  river ;  hut  Wayne,  witliout  his  knowledge,  dctaclicd  a 
party  under  Colonel  Clalvan  to  carry  oil  a  licld-piece  of  the 
enemy  which  was  said  to  lie  exposed.  The  information 
proved  false.  The  party  with  Galvan  retreated  in  column 
before  the  advancing  British  line  till  they  met  "Wajme  with 
the  I'ennsylvaiiia  brigade.  It  suited  the  character  of  that  offi- 
cer to  hazard  an  encounter.  The  British  moved  on  witli  loud 
shouts  and  incessant  lire.  Wayne,  discovering  that  he  had  en- 
gaged a  greatly  superior  force,  saw  his  only  safety  in  redoub- 
ling his  courage ;  and  he  kept  up  the  light  till  Lafayette,  brav- 
ing the  hottest  tire  in  wliich  his  horse  was  killed  under  hirn, 
brought  up  the  light  infantry  and  rescued  the  Pennsylvanians 
from  their  danger.  Two  of  Wayne's  field-pieces  were  left  be- 
hind. In  killed  and  wounded,  each  side  lost  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty.  The  action  took  its  name  from  the  Greene 
Springs  farm,  about  eight  miles  above  Jamestosvn,  where 
Lafayette  encamped  for  the  night. 

After  passing  the  river,  Cornwallis,  on  the  eighth,  wrote 
orders  to  Tarleton  with  mounted  troops  to  ravage  Prince  Ed- 
ward's and  Bedford  counties,  and  to  destroy  all  stores,  whether 
public  or  private.  The  benefit  derived  from  the  destruction 
of  property  was  not  equal  to  the  loss  in  skirmishes  on  the 
route  and  from  the  heatf  of  midsummer. 

From  his  camp  on  Malvern  Hill,  Lafayette  urged  Washing- 
ton to  march  to  Virginia  in  force ;  and  he  predicted  in  July 
that,  if  a  French  fleet  should  enter  Hampton  Roads,  the  Eng- 
lish army  must  surrender.  On  the  eighth  of  the  same  month 
Cornwallis,  in  reply  to  Clinton,  reasoned  earnestly  against  a  de- 
fensive post  in  the  Chesapeake :  "  It  cannot  liave  the  smallest 
influence  on  the  war  in  Carolina :  it  only  gives  us  some  acres 
of  an  unhealthy  swamp,  and  is  forever  liable  to  become  a 
prey  to  a  foreign  enemy  with  a  temporary  superiority  at  sea." 
Thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  Virginia,  he 
asked  leave  to  transfer  the  command  to  General  Leslie,  and  go 
back  to  Charleston.  Meantime,  transport  ships  arrived  in  the 
Chesapeake ;  and,  in  a  letter  which  he  received  on  the  twelfth, 
he  was  desired  by  his  chief  so  to  hasten  the  embai'kation  of 


'•  V. ;  on.  rv. 

the  great 
de  of  tuo 
letuclied  a 
:ce  of  tlie 
formation 
n  column 

f  that  offi- 
witli  loud 
;ie  liad  en- 
n  redoub- 
ctte,  brav- 
nder  luin, 
Bylvanians 
re  left  be- 
one  hun- 
!ie  Greene 
/n,  where 

ith,  wrote 
'rince  Ed- 
3,  whether 
estruction 
es  on  the 

Washing- 
id  in  July 
,  the  Eng- 
ne  month 
ainst  a  de- 
e  smallest 
)Ome  acres 
become  a 
;y  at  sea." 
irginia,  he 
ie,  and  go 
red  in  the 
le  twelfth, 
•kation  of 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  TOE   AMERICAN   WAK.    513 

three  thousand  men  that  they  might  sail  for  New  York  within 
forty-eight  hours ;  for,  deceived  by  letters  which  were  written 
to  be  intercei)ted,  ho  behoved  that  the  enemy  would  certainly 
attack  that  ])ost. 

Jhit  the  judgment  of  Clinton  was  further  confused  hy 
another  cause.     The  expectation  of  a  brilliant  cam})aign  iu 
Virginia  had  captivated  the  minds  of  Lord  George  Germain 
and  the  king;  and,  now  that  Oornwallis  'vas  thorougjdy  cured 
of  his  own  presumptuous  delusions,  they  came  back  to  Clinton 
in  the  shape  of  oi-ders  from  the  Tritish  secretary,  who  dwelt 
on  the  vast  importance  of  the  occupalion  of  V^irginia,  and  on 
the  wisdom  of  the  present  plan  of  pushing  the    .vyr  in  that 
quarter.     It  was  a  great  mortification   to  him   that  Clinton 
should  think  of  leaving  only  a  sufficient  force  to  serve  for 
garrisons  m  the  posts  that  might  be  established  '  lere,  and  he 
continued  :  "  Your  ideas  of  the  importance  of  recovo  -ing  that 
province  ai)pearing  to  be  so  different  from  mine,  I  thought  it 
proper  to  ask  ui^  alvice  of  his  majesty's  other  sorvaiw.s  upon 
tho  subject,  and,  t ,!  nr  opinion  concurring  entirely  with  mine, 
it^  has  been  submidcd  to  the  king;  and  i  am  comn-uaded  by 
his  majesty  to  acquaint  you  that  the  recovery  of  the  southern 
provinces  and  the  prosecution  of  the  war  from  south  to  north 
is  to  be  considered  as  tiio  chief  and  principal  object  for  the 
employment  of  all  the  forces  under  your  command  which  can 
be  s})ared  from  the  defenct  of  the  places  in  ^>is  majesty's  pos- 
session."    On  CornwalHs  he  heaped  praises,  ^i  riting  to  him  in 
June:  "The  rapidity  of  ycir  movements  is  justly  matter  of 
astonishment  to  all  Europe."     To  Clinton  he  repeated  in  the 
same   month:  "Lord  Cornwallis's  opinion  entirely  coincides 
with  mine."     So  Clinton's  peremptory  order  by  which  troops 
in  Virginia  had  been  already  embarked  to  sail  for  New  York 
was  countermanded.     "  As  to  quitting  the  Chesape,?u.:e  entire- 
ly," wrote  Clinton  in  a  letter  received  by  Cornwallis  on  the 
twenty-first  of  July,  "I  cannot  entertain  a  thought  of  such  a 
measure.     I  flatter  myself  you  will  at  least  hold  Old  Point 
Comfort,  if  it  is  possible  to  do  it  without  York."    And  four 
days  later  Clinton  urged  again :  "  It  ever  has  been,  is,  and 
ever  will  be,  my  firm  and  unalterable  opinion  that  it  is  of  the 
first  consequence  to  his  majesty's  affairs  on  the  continent  that 


l^ 


^i\m 


'fhr 


5U 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  on.  IV. 


*     i¥ 


!i' 


\>i 


W 


I 


!(?' 


we  take  possession  of  tlie  Cliesapcaico,  and  that  we  do  not 
afterward  reliuqnisli  it."  "Eemain  in  Cliesapeake,  at  least 
until  the  stations  I  have  proposed  arc  occupied  and  established. 
It  never  was  my  intention  to  continue  a  post  on  Elizabeth 
r"  :er."  Now  the  post  of  Portsmouth  on  Elizabeth  river 
had,  as  Lafayette  and  Washington  well  understood,  the  special 
value  that  it  offered  in  the  last  resort  the  chance  of  a  retreat 
into  the  Caroliuas. 

The  infatuation  of  Germain  wa5  incurable;  and  on  the 
seventh  of  July  he  continued  :  "  The  detachments  sent  to  Vir- 
ginia pron^nse  more  toward  bringing  the  southern  colonists  to 
obedience  than  any  offensive  operation  of  the  war ;"  a  week 
later :  "  You  judiciously  sent  ample  reinforcements  to  the 
Chesapeake ; "  and  on  the  second  of  August :  "  As  Sir  Geoi-<»-e 
Rodney  knows  the  destL  ition  of  de  Gi-asse,  and  the  French 
acknowledge  his  ships  sail  better  than  theirs,  he  will  get  before 
him  and  be  in  readiness  to  receive  him  when  he  comes  upon 
the  coast.  I  see  nothing  to  prevent  the  recovery  of  the  whole 
country  to  the  king's  obedience." 

The  engineers  of  Cornwallis,  after  careful  and  extensive 
surveys,  reported  unanimously  that  a  work  on  Point  Comfort 
would  not  secure  ships  at  anchor  in  Ilamjrton  RlckIs.  To 
General  Phillips,  on  iiis  embarkation  in  April,  Clinton's  words 
had  been  :  "  With  regard  to  a  station  for  the  protection  of  the 
king's  ships,  I  know  of  no  place  so  pi'oper  as  Yorktown." 
Nothing  therefore  remained  but,  in  obedience  to  the  spirit  of 
Clinton's  orders,  to  seize  and  fortify  Y'ork  and  Gloucester. 
Cornwallis  accordingly,  in  the  first  week  of  August,  embarked 
his  troops  successively,  and,  evacuating  Portsmouth,  traus- 
ferred  his  force  to  Yorktown  and  Gloucester.  Yorktown  was 
then  but  a  small  village  on  a  high  bank,  where  the  long  pen- 
insula dividing  the  York  from  the  James  river  is  less  than 
eight  miles  wide.  The  water  is  broad,  bold,  and  deep;  so 
that  ships  of  the  line  may  ride  there  in  safety.  On  the  oppo- 
site side  lies  Gloucester,  a  point  of  land  proj^^cting  into  the 
river  and  narrowing  till  it  becomes  but  one  mile  wide.  These 
were  occupied  by  Cornwallis,  and  fortified  with  the  utmost  dili- 
gence ;  though,  in  his  deliberate  judgment,  the  measure  prom- 
ised no  honor  to  himself  iind  no  advantage  to  Great  Britain. 


1781.  THE   LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR.     515 

On  the  other  hand,  Lafayette,  concentrating  his  forces  in  a 
strong  position  at  a  distance  of  about  eight  miles,  indulged  in 
the  haiipicst  prophecies,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  August 
wrote  to  Maurepas  :  « I  owe  you  so  much  gratitude,  and  feel 
for  you  so  much  attachment,  that  I  wish  sometimes  to  recall 
to  your  reco;iection  the  rebel  commander  of  the  little  Virginia 
army.     Youv  interest  for  me  will  have  been  alarmed  at''  the 
dangerous  part  which  has  been  intrusted  to  me  in  my  youth. 
Separated  by  live  hundred  miles  from  every  other  corps  and 
without  any  resources,  I  am  to  oppose   tlie  projects  of  the 
court  of  St.  James  and  the  fortunes  of  Lord  Cornwallis.    Thus 
far,  we  have  encountered  no  disaster."     On  the  same  day  his 
words  to  Vergennes  were :  "  In  pursuance  of  the  immense 
plan  of  his  court,  Lord  Cornwallis  left  the  two  Carollnas  ex- 
posed, and  General  Greene  has  largely  proHted  by  it.     Lord 
Cornwallis  has  left  to  us  Portsmouth,  from  whicli  place  he  was 
in  communication  with  Carolina,  and  he  now  is  at  York,  a  very 
advantageous  place  for  one  who  has  the  maritime  superiority. 
If  by  chance  that  superiority  should  become  ours,  our  little 
army  will  participate  in  successes  which  will  compensate  it  for 
a  long  and  fatiguing  campaign.     They  say  that  you  are  about 
to  make  peace.     I  think  that  you  should  wait  for  the  events 
of  this  campaign." 

On  the  very  day  on  which  Cornwallis  took  possession  of 
York  and  Gloucester,  Washington,  assured  of  the  assistance  of 
de  Grasse,  turned  his  ^vhole  thoughts  toward  moving  with  the 
French  troops  under  Rochambeau  and  the  best  part  of  the 
American  army  to  the  Chesapeake.  While  hostile  didsions 
and  angry  jealousies  increased  between  the  two  chief  British 
officers  in  the  United  States,  on  the  American  side  all  things 
conspired  happily  together.  De  Barras,  who  commanded  the 
French  squadron  at  Newport,  wrote  as  to  his  intentions :  •'  De 
Grasse  is  my  junior ;  yet,  as  soon  as  he  is  within  reach,  I  will 
go  to  sea  to  put  myself  under  his  orders."  The  same  sj^irit 
insured  unanimity  in  the  mixed  coimcil  of  war.  The  rciidez- 
yous  was  given  to  de  Grasse  in  Chesapeake  bay;  and,  at  the 
instance  of  AVashington,  he  was  to  bring  with  him  as  many 
land  troops  as  could  be  spared  from  the  West  Indies.  Clinton 
was  so  certain  in  his  own  mind  that  the  siege  of  Xew  York 


fl 


^  t 


!     I 


U      'i 


l^ 


516 


TUE  AMERIOxiN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  OH.  IV 


1 1 


! 


hn  n^ 


nil 


was  tlie  great  object  of  "Washington  that,  although  the  force 
under  his  command,  inchiding  militia,  was  nearly  eighteen 
thousand,  he  sufiered  the  Hudson  river  to  be  crossed  on  the 
twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  of  August  without  seizing  tlie 
opportunity  to  give  annoyance.  Wurmb,  a  Hessian  colonel, 
who  had  command  at  King's  Bridge,  again  and  again  reportod 
that  the  allied  armies  were  obviously  preparing  to  move  against 
Cornwallis ;  but  the  general  insisted  that  the  appearances  were 
but  a  stratagem.  On  the  second  of  September  it  first  broke 
on  his  mind  that  AVashingtou  was  moving  southward. 

In  the  allied  camp  all  was  joy.  The  enthusiasm  for  politi- 
cal freedom  took  possession  not  of  tlie  French  officers  only, 
but  of  the  soldiers.  Every  one  of  them  was  proud  of  being 
a  defender  of  the  young  republic.  On  the  fifth  of  Septcia- 
ber  they  encamped  at  Chester.  Never  had  the  French  seen  a 
man  penetrated  with  a  livelier  or  more  manifest  joy  than  Wash- 
ington when  he  there  learned  that,  on  the  last  day  but  one  in 
August,  the  Count  de  Grasse,  with  twenty-eight  ships  of  the 
line  and  nearly  four  thousand  land  troops,  had  entered  the 
Chesapeake,  where,  without  loss  of  time,  he  had  moored  most 
of  the  fleet  in  Lynnhaven  bay,  blocked  up  York  river,  and, 
without  being  in  the  least  annoyed  by  Cornwallis,  had  disem- 
barked at  James  Island  three  thousand  men  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Marquis  de  Saint-Simon.  Here,  too,  prevailed 
unanimity.  Saint-Simcui,  though  older  in  military  service  as 
well  as  in  years,  placed  himself  and  his  troops  as  auxiliaries 
under  the  orders  of  Lafayette,  because  he  was  a  major-general 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  combined  army  in 
their  encampment  could  be  approached  only  by  two  passages, 
which  were  in  themselves  difficult  and  were  carefully  guarded, 
so  that  Cornwallis  could  not  act  on  the  offensive,  and  found 
himself  effectually  blockaded  l)y  land  and  by  sea. 

One  more  disappointment  awaited  Cornwallis.  Lord  Sand- 
wich, after  the  retirement  of  Howe,  gave  the  naval  command 
at  IS'ew  York  to  officers  without  ability ;  and  the  aged  Arbuth- 
not  was  succeeded  by  Graves,  a  coarse  and  vulgar  man,  of 
mean  ability  and  witliout  slcill  in  his  profession.  Eodney 
should  have  followed  de  Grasse  to  the  north;  but  he  had  be- 
come involved  in  pecuniary  perils  by  his  indiscrimiuate  seizures 


1781.  THE   LAST   CAMPAIGN  OF  TUE  AMERICAN  WAR.    517 

at  St.  Eustatius  and  conduct  during  the  long-continued  sale  of 
Ins  prize-goods.  Pleading  ill-liealth,  he  escaped  to  England, 
and  m  bis  stead  sent  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  with  fourteen  sail  of 
the  hne,  frigates,  and  a  fire-ship,  into  the  Chesapcalce,  where  a 
junction  witii  Graven  would  have  given  the  English  the  su- 
premacy. But  Graves,  wlu)  was  of  higher  rank  than  Hood, 
was  out  of  the  way  on  a  cruise  before  Boston,  to  gain  wealth 
by  picking  up  prizes.  Meantime,  de  Barras,  ^vith  eight  shi])s 
of  the  line,  sailed  from  Newport,  convoying  ten  transports 
which  carried  ordriance  for  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

There  was  no  want  of  information  at  New  York,  yet  the 
British  fleet  did  not  leave  Sandy  Hook  until  the  day  after  de 
Grasse  had  arrived  in  the  Chesapeake.     Eariy  on  the  fifth  of 
September,  Graves  discovered  the  French  fleet  at  anchor  in 
the  mouth  of  that  bay.     De  Grasse,  though  eigiiteen  hundred 
of  Ins  seamen  and  ninety  officers  were  on  duty  in  James  river 
ordered  his  ships  to  slip  their  cables,  turn  out  from  the  anchor- 
age ground,  and  form  the  line  of  battle.     The  action  began  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  continued  till  about  sunset. 
ihe  British  sustained  so  great  a  loss  that,  after  remaining  five 
days  m  siglit  of  the  French,  they  returned  to  New  York.     On 
the  fii-st  day  of  their  return  voyage  they  evacuated  and  burned 
ihe  Terrible,   0    sliip    of   the    line,  so    much  had  it  been 
damaged  in  tb     engagement.     Be  Grasse,  now  undisturi)ed 
master  of  the  Chesapeake,  on  his  way  back  to  his  anchoring 
ground  captured  two  British  ships,  each  of  thirty-two  guns 
and  he  found  de  Barras  safely  at  anchor  in  the  bay. 

Leaving  the  allied  troops  to  descend  by  water  from  Elk 
river  and  Baltimore,  Washington,  with  Bocliambeau  and  Chas- 
tellux,  riding  sixty  miles  a  day,  on  the  evening  of  the  ninth 
reached  his  "ouTi  seat  at  Mount  Vernon."  It  was  the  first 
time  in  more  ihan  six  years  that  he  had  seen  his  home.  From 
Its  natural  terrace  above  the  Potomac  his  illustrious  guests 
commanded  a  noble  river,  a  wide  and  most  pleasing  expanse 
of  country,  and  forest-clad  heights,  which  were  soon  to  become 
the  capital  of  the  united  republic. 

Tv  .)  days  were  given  to  domestic  life.  On  the  fourteenth 
the  party  arrived  at  AVilliamsbnr-r,  where  Lafayette,  recallino- 
the  moment  when  in  France  the  i)oor  rebels  were  held  in  lic-hl 


ll 


1 1  m  ii 


i  f 


3-         ! 


i'>H 


"% 


ii'Vl 


518 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  oit.  IV. 


I'l 


,  1     I 


r  n  1         I 


!  I 


i\<{ 


■U    if'' 


ill 


efitccm,  and  wlicn  he  nevcrtlieless  came  to  share  Avith  them  all 
their  perils,  had  the  i)leasiire  of  welcoming  AVashington  as 
generalissimo  of  the  comhiued  armies  of  the  two  nations. 

The  first  act  of  Washington  was  to  repair  to  the  Ville  de 
Paris  to  congratulate  de  (Jrasse  on  his  victory.  The  system 
of  co-operation  between  the  land  and  naval  forces  was  at  the 
same  time  concerted. 

At  this  moment  Gerry  wrote  from  Massachusetts  to  Jay : 
"  You  Avill  soon  have  the  ])leasure  of  hearing  of  the  capture  of 
Lord  Cornwallis  and  his  army."  "  Nothing  can  save  Corn- 
wallis,"  saidCireene,  "but  a  rapid  retreat  through  North  Caro- 
lina to  Charleston."  On  the  seventeenth,  Cornwallis  reported 
to  Clinton :  "  This  place  is  in  no  state  of  defence.  If  you 
cannot  relieve  me  very  soon,  you  must  be  prepared  to  hear  the 
worst."  On  that  same  day  a  council  of  war,  held  by  Clinton 
at  New  York,  decided  that  Cornwallis  must  be  relieved ;  "  at 
all  events  before  the  end  of  October."  The  next  day  Eear- 
Admiral  Graves  answered :  "  T  am  very  happy  to  find  that 
Lord  Cornwallis  is  in  no  immediate  danger." 

One  peril  yet  menaced  Washington.  Count  do  Grasse, 
hearing  of  a  reinforcement  of  the  fleet  at  Now  York,  was  bent 
on  keeping  the  sea,  leaving  only  two  vessels  at  the  mouth  of 
the  York  river.  Against  this  Washington,  on  the  twenty- 
fifth,  addressed  the  plainest  and  most  earnest  remonstrance : 
"I  should  esteem  myself  deficient  in  my  duty  to  the  common 
cause  of  France  and  America,  if  I  did  not  persevere  in  en- 
treating you  to  resume  the  plans  that  have  been  so  happily 
arranged."  The  letter  was  taken  by  Lafayette,  who  joined  to 
it  his  own  explanations  aiul  reasonings ;  and  de  Grasse,  though 
reluctant,  was  prevailed  upon  to  remain  within  the  capes. 
AVashington  wrote  in  acknowledgment :  •'  A  great  mind  knows 
how  to  make  personal  sacrifices  to  secure  an  important  general 
good." 

The  troops  from  the  North  having  been  safely  landed  at 
AYilliamsburg,  on  the  twenty-eighth  the  united  armies  marched 
for  the  investiture  of  Yorktown,  drove  everything  on  the  Brit- 
ish side  before  them,  and  lay  on  their  arms  during  the  night. 

The  fortifications  of  Yorktown,  which  were  nothing  but 
earthworks  freshly  thrown  up,  consisted  on  the  right  of  re- 


I 


.  V. ;  OH.  IV. 

1  tliem  all 

ington  as 
tions. 
Q  Villo  de 
lie  system 
*vas  at  tlie 

ts  to  Jay : 
capture  of 
ive  Corii- 
Drth  Caro- 
3  reported 
•  If  you 
3  hear  the 
•y  Clinton 
ivcd;  "at 
day  Rear- 
find  that 

Ic  Grasse, 
,  was  I  tent 
mouth  of 
e  twenty- 
Histrance : 
i  common 
3rc  in  on- 

0  happily 
joined  to 

;e,  though 
he  capes, 
ind  knows 
nt  general 

landed  at 
3  marched 

1  the  lirit- 
le  night, 
thing  but 
i'ht  of  ro 


5 

w,- 
to 


k 
I' 


fei 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN   OF  TOE   AMERICAN  WAR.    519 

doubts  and  batteries,  with  a  line  of  stockade  in  the  rear,  which 
supported  a  high  parapet.  Over  a  marshy  ravine  in  froTit  of 
the  right  a  large  redoubt  was  placed.  The  morass  extended 
along  the  centre,  which  was  defended  by  a  stockade  and  bat- 
teries. Two  snudl  redoubts  were  advanced  before  tlio  left. 
The  ground  in  front  of  the  left  was  in  some  parts  level  with 
the  works,  in  others  cut  by  ravines;  altogether  very  conven- 
ient for  the  besiegers.  The  space  within  the  worlcs  was  ex- 
ceedingly narrow,  and,  except  under  the  cliff,  was  exposed  to 
enfilade. 

The  twenty-ninth  was  given  to  reconnoitring  and  forming 
a  plan  of  attack  and  approach.  The  French  entreated  Wash- 
ington for  orders  to  storm  the  exterior  posts  of  the  British  ;  in 
the  course  of  the  night  before  the  thirtieth,  Cornwallis  ordered 
them  all  to  be  abandoned,  and  thus  prematurely  conceded  to 
the  allied  armies  ground  which  commanded  his  line  of  works 
in  a  very  near  advance,  and  gave  gi-i^at  advantages  for  opening 
the  trenches. 

At  Gloucester  the  enemy  was  slmt  in  by  dragoons  under 
the  Duke  de  Lauzun,  Yirginia  militia  under  General  AVeedon, 
and  eight  hundred  marines.  Once,  and  once  only,  Tarietoii 
and  his  legion,  who  were  stationed  on  the  same  side  of  the 
river,  undertook  to  act  offensively ;  but  the  Duke  de  Lauzun 
and  his  dragoons,  full  of  gayety  and  joy  at  the  sight,  rr.n 
against  them  and  trampled  them  down.  Tarieton  barely 
escaped ;  his  horse  w\as  taken. 

In  the  night  before  the  sixth  of  October,  everything  being 
in  readiness,  trenches  were  opened  at  six  hundred  yards'  dis- 
tance from  the  works  of  Coi-nwallis— on  the  right  by  the 
Americans,  on  the  left  by  the  French ;  and  the  labor  was 
executed  in  friendly  rivalry,  with  so  much  secrecy  and  dis- 
l)atch  that  it  was  first  revealed  to  the  enemy  by  tlie  light  of 
morning.  AYithin  three  days  the  first  parallel  was  completed, 
the  redoubts  were  finished,  aiul  batterie:,  were  employed  in 
demolishing  the  embrasures  of  the  enemy's  works  and  their 
advanced  redoubts.  On  the  night  before  the  eleventh  the 
French  battery  on  the  left,  using  red-hot  shot,  set  on  fire  the 
frigate  Charon,  of  forty-four  guns,  and  three  largo  transport 
ships  which  were  entirely  consumed. 


ii: 


I 


f    ' 


1'    ! 


:fiii'l 


If 


i  iii   « 


^M 


520 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  on.  IV. 


I ' 


i     i!i 


111  i 

hi 


)  f 


:M    I 


On  the  eleventli,  at  niglit,  the  second  parallel  was  begun 
witliin  tlirec  Inindred  yards  of  the  lines  of  the  besieged.  This 
was  nndertakcn  so  much  sooner  than  lie  British  expected, 
that  it  could  be  con  bicted  with  the  same  secrecy  as  before; 
and  they  had  no  suspicion  of  the  working  parties  till  daylight 
discovered  thcni  to  tlieir  pickets. 

All  day  on  the  fourteenth  the  American  batteries  were 
directed  against  the  abattis  and  salient  angles  of  two  advanced 
redoubts  of  the  British,  both  oi  which  needed  to  be  included 
in  the  second  parallel ;  and  breaches  were  made  in  them  sufii- 
cient  t(  justify  an  assault.  That  on  the  right  near  York  river 
was  garrisoned  by  forty-live  men,  that  on  the  left  by  thrice  as 
man_).  The  storming  of  the  former  fell  to  the  Americans 
imder  the  command  of  Tiieutenant-Colonel  Alexander  llumil- 
tun;  that  of  the  In  Her  to  the  French,  of  whom  four  hundred 
grenadiers  and  yagers  of  the  regiments  of  Gatinois  and  of 
Deux  Fonts,  with  a  large  reserve,  were  intrusted  to  Count 
William  de  Deux  Fonts  and  to  Baron  de  I'Estrade. 

At  the  concerted  signal  of  six  shells  consecutively  dis- 
charged, the  corps  under  Ilanulton  advanced  in  two  colunms 
without  firing  a  gun — the  right  composed  of  his  own  battalion, 
led  by  Major  Fish,  and  of  another  commanded  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Gimat;  the  left,  of  a  detachment  under  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Laurens,  destined  to  take  the  enemy  of  reverse  and 
Intercept  their  retreat.  All  the  movements  were  executed 
with  exactness,  and  the  redoubt  was  at  the  same  moment  en- 
veloped and  carried  in  ever}'  part.  Lieutenant  Mansfield  con- 
ducted the  vanguard  with  coolness  and  punctuality,  and  was 
wounded  with  a  bayonet  as  he  entered  the  work.  Captain 
OIney  led  the  first  platoon  of  Gimat's  battalion  over  the 
abattis  and  palisades,  and  gained  the  parapet,  receiving  two 
bayonet  wounds  in  the  thigh  and  in  the  body,  but  not  till  he 
had  directed  his  men  to  form.  Laun^ns  was  among  the  fore- 
most to  climb  into  the  redoubt,  making  prisoner  of  Major 
Campbell,  its  commanding  officer.  Animated  by  his  example, 
the  battalion  of  Gimat  overcame  every  obstacle  by  their  order 
and  resolution.  The  battalion  under  ]\Lajor  Fish  advanced 
with  such  celerity  as  to  participate  in  the  assault.  Incapable 
of  imitating  precedents  of  barbtuity,  the  Americans  spared 


hi 


•.  V. ;  on.  IV. 

vas  begun 
jed.  This 
expected, 
as  before; 
11  dii^  light 


3ne3  were 
I  advanced 
e  included 
tlieni  sufii- 
i.'ork  river 
y  thrice  as 
(imericans 
er  llamil- 
V  hundred 
MS  and  of 
to  Count 

tively  dis- 
0  columns 

battalion, 
Jeutcnant- 
iicutcnant- 
jverse  and 
!  executed 
louient  cn- 
Lsiield  con- 
y,  and  was 
,     Captain 

over  the 
iiving  two 
not  till  he 
J  the  fore- 

of  Major 
8  example, 
:heir  order 

advanced 

Incapable 
ins  spared 


521 


« 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR. 

every  man  that  ceased  to  resist ;  so  that  the  killed  and  winded 
of  tlie  enemy  did  not  exceed  eight.     The  conduct  of  the  affair 
brought  conspicuous  honor  to  Hamilton. 
_      Precisely  as  the  siguid  was  given,  the  Froncli  on  the  left 
in  hko  manner,  began  their  march  in  the  deepest  silence.     At 
one  hundred  and  twenty  paces  from  the  redoubt  they  were 
chaLenged  by  a  German  sentry  from  the  parapet;  they  pressed 
on  at  a  quick  time,  exposed  to  the  fire  of  tlie  enemy     The 
abattis  and  palisades,  at  twenty-live  paces  from  the  redoubt 
being  strong  and  well  preserved,  stopped  them  for  some  min- 
utes and  cost  them  many  lives.      So  soon  as  the  way  was 
cleared  by  the  brave  carpenters,  the  stcnning  party  threw 
themselves  into  the   ditch,  broke   through   the  fraises,  and 
mounted  the  parapet.     I'oremost  was  Charles  de  Lametli,  who 
had  volunteered  for  this  attack,  and  who  was  wounded  in  both 
knees  by  two  different  musket-balls.     The  order  bein-r  now 
given,  the  French  leaped  into  the  redoubt  and  charged  the 
enemy  with  the  bayonet.      At  this   moment  the  r\,unt  do 
I)eux  lonts  raised  the  cry  of  "Vive  le  roi,"  which  was  re- 
peated by  all  of  his  companions  who  were  able  to  lift  their 
voices.     De  Sireuil,  a  very  young  captain  of  yagers  who  had 
been  wounded  twice  before,  was  now  wounded  for  the  third 
time  and  mortally.     Within  six  minutes  the  redoubt  was  mas- 
tered and  manned ;  but  in  that  short  time  nearly  one  hundred 
ot  tlo  assailants  were  killed  or  wounded. 

On  that  night  "  victory  twined  double  garlands  around  the 
banners  of  France  and  America.  Washington  acknowledged 
tlie  emulous  courage,  intrepidity,  coolness,  and  firmness  of  the 
attacking  troops.  Louis  XVI.  distinguished  the  regiment  of 
tratinois  by  naming  it  "the  Royal  Auvergnc." 

By  the  unwearied  labor  of  the  French  and  Americans, 
both  redoubts  were  included  in  the  second  parallel  in  the 
night  of  their  capture.  Just  before  the  break  of  day  of  the 
sixteenth  the  British  made  a  sortie  upon  a  part  of  the  second 
parallel  and  spiked  four  French  pieces  of  artillery  and  t^vo  of 
the  Americans;  but,  on  the  quick  advance  of  the  guards  in 
the  trenches,  they  retreated  precipitately.  The  spHces  were 
easily  extracted  ;  and  in  six  hours  the  cannon  again  took  ii.art 
m  the  lire  which  enhladed  the  British  worlvs. 


Si^  u 


I'  I  -^ 


622 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION". 


EP.  V. ;  on.  IV 


/(! 


"f 


! 


On  tlie  seventeentli,  Cornwallis,  wlio  could  neitlier  hold 
his  post  nor  escape,  proposed  to  suiTcnder.  Ou  the  eight- 
eenth, Colonel  Laurens  and  the  Viscount  de  Noailles  as  com 
missioners  on  the  American  side  met  two  high  officers  of  the 
army  of  Cornwallis,  to  draft  the  capitulation.  The  articles 
were  the  same  as  those  which  Clinton  had  imposed  upon  Lin- 
coln at  Charleston.  All  the  troops  were  to  be  prisoners  of 
war ;  all  public  property  was  to  be  delivered  up.  Runaway 
slaves  and  the  plunder  taken  by  officers  and  soldiers  in  their 
marches  through  the  country  might  be  reclaimed ;  with  this 
limitation,  private  property  was  to  be  respected.  All  royal- 
ists were  left  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  laws  of  their 
own  countrymen ;  but  Cornwallis,  in  the  packet  which  took 
his  dispatches  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  was  sufEercd  silently  to 
send  away  such  persons  as  were  most  obnoxious. 

Of  prisoners,  there  were  seven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  regular  soldiers,  the  flower  of  the  British  army  in 
America,  beside  eight  hundred  and  forty  sailors.  The  British 
loss  during  the  siege  amounted  to  more  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty.  Two  hundred  and  forty-four  pieces  of  cannon  were 
taken,  of  which  seventy-five  were  of  brass.  The  land  forces 
and  stores  were  assigned  to  the  Americans,  the  ships  and  mari- 
ners to  the  French.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
nineteenth,  Cornwallis  remaining  in  his  tent,  Major-General 
O'FIara  marched  the  British  army  past  the  lines  of  the  com- 
bined armies  and,  not  without  signs  of  repugnance,  made  his 
surrender  to  Washington.  His  trooj)s  then  stepped  forward 
decently  and  piled  their  arms  on  the  ground. 

The  English  soldiers  affected  to  look  at  the  allied  army 
with  scorn ;  their  officers  conducted  themselves  with  decorum, 
yet  felt  most  keenly  how  decisive  was  their  defeat. 

Nor  must  impartial  history  fail  to  relate  that  the  French 
provided  for  the  siege  of  Yorktown  thirty-six  ships  of  the  line ; 
and  that  while  the  Americans  supplied  nine  thousand  troops, 
the  contingent  of  the  French  consisted  of  seven  thousand. 

There  was  no  day  before  it  or  after  it  like  that  on  which 
the  elder  Bourbon  king,  through  his  army  and  navy,  assisted  to 
seal  the  victory  of  the  rights  of  man  and  to  pass  from  nation 
to  nation  the  lighted  torch  of  freedom. 


1781.  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  WAR.    523 

When  the  letters  of  Washington  announcing  the  capitular 
tion  reached  congress,  that  body,  with  the  people  streaming  in 
their  train,  went  in  pi-ocession  to  the  Dutch  Lutheran  church 
to  return  thanks  to  Ahnlghty  God.  Every  breast  swelled  with 
joy.  In  the  evening  Philadelphia  was  illuminated  with 
greater  splendor  than  ever  before.  Congress  voted  honors  to 
Washington,  to  Eochambeau,  and  to  de  Grasse,  with  special 
thanks  to  the  officers  and  troops.  The  promise  was  given  of  a 
marble  column  to  be  erected  at  Yorktown,  with  emblems  of 
the  alhance  between  the  United  States  and  his  most  Christian 
majesty. 

The  Duke  de  Lauzun,  chosen  to  take  the  news  across  the 
Atlantic,  ai-rived  in  twenty-two  days  at  Brest,  and  reached 
Versailles  on  the  nineteenth  of  November.  The  king,  who 
had  just  been  made  happy  by  the  birth  of  a  dauphin,  received 
the  glad  news  in  the  queen's  apartment.  The  very  last  sands 
of  the  life  of  the  Count  de  Maurepas  were  running  out ;  but 
he  could  still  recognise  de  Lauzun,  and  the  tidings  threw  a 
halo  round  his  death-bed.  No  statesman  of  his  century  had  a 
more  prosperous  old  age  or  such  felicity  in  the  cu-cumstanccs 
of  his  death.  I'he  joy  at  court  penetrated  the  people,  and  the 
name  of  Lafayette  was  pronounced  with  veneration.  "His- 
tory," said  Yergennes,  "  oilers  few  examples  of  a  success  so 
complete."  "  All  the  world  agree,"  wrote  Franklin  to  Wash- 
ington, "  that  no  expedition  was  ever  better  planned  or  better 
executed.  It  brightens  the  glory  that  must  accompany  your 
name  to  the  latest  posterity." 

The  first  tidings  of  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  reached 
England  from  France  about  noon  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  No- 
vember. "  It  is  all  over,"  said  Lord  North  many  times,  under 
the  deepest  agitation  and  distress.  Fox— to  whom  the  defeats 
of  armies  of  invaders,  from  Xerxes'  time  downward,  gave  the 
greatest  satisfaction— heard  of  the  capitulation  of  Yorktown 
with  triumpliant  delight.  He  hoped  it  might  become  the  con- 
viction of  all  mankind  that  power  resting  on  armed  force  is 
invidious,  detestable,  weak,  and  tottering.  The  official  report 
from  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  received  the  same  day  at  mid- 
night. When  on  the  following  Tuesday  pai-liament  came 
together,  the  speech  of  the  king  was  confused,  the  debates  in 

VOL.  v.— 35 


I , 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


El'. 


V. ;  OH.  IV. 


the  two  houses  augiired  an  impending  change  in  the  opinion 
of  parliament,  and  the  majority  of  tlie  ministry  was  reduced 
to  eighty-seven.  A  fortniglit  later  the  motion  of  Sir  James 
Lowther  to  give  up  "  all  further  attempts  to  reduce  the  re- 
volted colonies  "  was  well  received  by  the  members  from  the 
country,  and  the  majority  of  the  ministry,  after  a  very  long 
and  animated  debate,  dwindled  to  forty-one.  The  city  of  Lon- 
don entreated  the  king  to  put  an  end  to  "  this  unnatural  and 
unfortunate  war."  Such,  too,  was  the  wisli  of  public  meetings 
in  Westminster,  in  Southwark,  and  in  the  counties  of  Middle- 
sex and  Surrey. 

The  chimes  of  the  Christmas  bells  had  hardly  died  away 
when  the  king  wrote  as  stubbornly  as  ever :  " ISo  difficulties 
can  get  me  to  consent  to  the  getting  of  peace  at  the  expense 
of  a  separation  from  America."  Yet  Lord  George  Germain 
was  compelled  to  retire  from  the  cabinet.  It  was  sought  to 
palhate  his  disgrace  by  a  peerage  ;  but,  \\  hen  for  the  first  time 
he  repaired  to  the  house  of  lords,  he  wai)  met  by  reproof  for 
cowardice  and  incapacity. 


1782.    BRITAIN  IS   WEARY  OF  WAR  WITH  AMERICA. 


525 


3\ 


CHAPTER  y. 

BRITAIN   IS   WEARY   OF   WAR   WITH   AMERICA. 

January-June  1782. 

The  campaign  in  Virginia  being  finished,  Washington  and 
th(i  eastern  array  were  cantoned  for  the  Avinter  in  their  old 
positions  around  F>w  York;  Wayne,  with  tlie  Pennsylvania 
line,  marclied  to  the  South  to  reinforce  Greene;  the  French 
under  Rochanibeau  encamped  in  Virginia ;  and  de  Grasse  took 
his  fleet  to  the  West  Indies. 

As  the  hope  of  peace  gained  strength,  congress  could  not  re- 
press alarm  at  the  extent  of  the  control  over  the  negotiations 
for  It,  which,  m  the  previous  month  of  June,  had  been  granted 
to  France.     On  the  seventh  of  January  1782,  Eobert  R.  Liv- 
ingston, the  first  American  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  prov- 
mg  himself  equal  to  the  supreme  responsibility  devolved  upon 
him,  rose  abovo  every  local  interest  or  influence,  and,  clearly 
representing  the  spirit  of  the  people  and  the  desires  of  con- 
gress, communicated  to  the  American  commissioners  for  peace 
new  instructions  on  its  conditions.    The  boundaries  on  the  east, 
the  north-east,  and  the  north  were  to  be  the  ocean  and  the 
well-known  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada;  on 
the  west,  the  Mississippi ;  for  the  south,  Livingston,  foreseeing 
the  dangers  of  restoring  West  Florida  to  Great  Britain,  with 
wise  forethought  declared  that  the  interests  of  France  and  of 
the  United  States  conspired  to  exclude  Great  Britain  from  both 
the  Floridas  ;  but  no  objection  was  made  to  their  restoration 
to  Spain. 

Livingston  asserted  the  equal  common  rights  of  the  United 
States  to  the  fisheries  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland ;  yet  not 


iii 


ii 


ll       !, 


iii  HI 


536 


THE   AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.        KP.v.;on.7. 


"II 


m 

■Mil 

111:1 
'I 
I' 


li' 


f 


il'-! 


f 


|1 


I' 


within  such  distance  of  the  coasts  of  other  powers  as  the  law 
of  nations  allows  them  to  approi)riate  ;  the  sea,  by  its  nature, 
cannot  Vh'  i^;;  ropriated;  its  common  benefits  are  the  riglit  of 
all  i  umKin  \ 

The  '  -  nmissioners  were  further  instructed  that  no  stipu- 
hii^ii  II  be  made  in  favor  of  the  American  partisans  '»f 
Eiiglanu  ,^  Iio  had  been  banished  the  country  or  whose  prop- 
erty iui.i  oeen  forfeited. 

cuould  the  Floridas  be  ceded  to  Spain,  it  would  be  essen- 
tial to  fix  their  limits  precisely,  for  which  the  directions  of 
congress  of  1777  were  made  the  mile. 

These  instructions  were  received  by  Frank-lin  in  March. 
They  carried  joy  to  the  old  man's  heart,  and  he  answered : 
"Your  communications  of  the  sentiments  of  congress  with 
regard  to  a  treaty  of  peace  give  me  great  pleasure,  and  tlie 
more  as  they  agree  so  perfectly  with  my  own  o])inions  and  fur- 
nish mo  ■with  additional  arguments  in  their  support.  My  ideas 
on  the  points  to  be  insisted  on  in  the  treaty  of  peace  are,  I 
assure  you,  full  as  strong  as  yours.  Be  assured  I  shall  not  will- 
ingly give  up  any  important  right  or  interest  of  our  country, 
and,  unless  this  campaign  should  afford  our  enemies  some  con- 
siderable advantage,  I  hope  more  rnay  be  obtained  than  I  yet  ex- 
pect.    Let  us  keep  not  only  our  courage  but  our  vigilance."  * 

The  action  of  congress  was  slower  but  not  less  firm.  On 
the  seventeenth  of  N'ov  ember  178^  the  delegates  for  Massa- 
chusetts laid  before  congress  the  prayer  of  their  state,  that  the 
right  in  the  fisheries  w^hich  had  heretofore  been  enjoyed  might 
be  continued  and  secured,  f 

The  subject  was  referred  to  Lovell  of  Massachusetts,  Car- 
roll of  Maryland,  and  to  Madison.  The  young  Virginia  states- 
man, whose  wisdom  so  often  pointed  out  to  his  country  the 
way  of  escape  from  embarrassment,  took  the  lead  in  the  com- 
mittee, and  the  ultimatum  of  peace  which  he  prepared  merged 
the  prayer  of  a  single  commonwealth  in  an  ultimatum  tha,t 
included  the  interests  of  the  nation.     His  report, :{:  which  wtis 

*  Diplomatic  Corrcsponclcnco,  iii.,  314,  328.  f  Secret  Journals,  iii.,  150. 

X  This  report,  which  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Madison,  is  preserved  in  the  State 
Department,  in  the  MSS.  labeled  "  Committees  on  State  Papsrs."  It  is  prhited  ia 
Secret  Journals,  iii.,  lSl-201,  aud  in  New  York  IliJtorical  Colkctioiia  for  1878. 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS   WEARY  OF   WAR   WITH   AMERICA.      527 

made  on  the  day  after  Livingstcn  Lad  written  his  instructions 
to  the  commissioners  for  peace,  argued  at  large  in  favor  of  the 
same  points.  It  was  acceptable  to  congress;  but  the  decision 
of  that  body  was  long  delayed. 

On  the  west  no  bouuJary  was  to  be  known  but  the  Missis- 
sippi.    Congress  regretted  its  instructions  of  June  1781  a? 
a  sacrifice  of  national  dignity ;  but,  listening  to  ilie  advice  of 
Madison,  it  refused  to   reconsider  them,  choosing  rather  to 
proceed  by  supplementary  instructions.      After  long  delays 
and  debates,  on  the  third  day  of  October,  congress,  by  the  vote 
of  nine  states,  declared  that  the  territorial  claims  of  the  states 
as  heretofore  made,  their   participation  in  the  iishcries,  and 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  were  not  only  their  in- 
dubitable lights,  but  were  essential  to  their  prosperity,  and 
they  trusted  that  the  ellorts  of  his  most  Christian  majesty 
would  be  successfully  employed  to  obtain  security  for  those 
rights.    Nor  could  they  refrain  from  setting  before  the  king 
of  France,  that  no  compensation  could  be  made  to  the  royalist 
refugees  for  property  confiscated  in  the  several  states,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  individual  states  by  which 
the  confiscation  had  beer-  made,  but  of  the  wanton  devastation 
which  the  citizens  of  the  states  had  experienced  from  the  ene- 
my, and  in  many  instances  from  the  very  persons  in  whose  fa- 
vor such  claims  might  be  urged.* 

While  the  conditions  of  peace  were  under  consideration 
America  obtained  an  avowed  friend.  Henry  Laurens,  the 
American  plenipotentiary  to  the  Netheriands,  havi  n;  been 
taken  captive  and  carried  to  England,  John  Adams  was  ap- 
pointed in  his  place.  The  new  envoy  had  waited  more  *han 
eight  months  for  an  audience  of  reception.  Encouraged  by 
the  success  at  Yorktown,  on  the  ninth  of  January  i;S2  Ad- 
ams presented  himself  to  the  president  of  the  states-general, 
renewed  his  formal  request  for  an  opportunity  of  present- 
ing his  credentials,  and  "demanded  a  categorical  answer  which 
he  might  transmit  to  his  sovereign."  He  next  went  in  per- 
son to  the  deputies  of  the  several  cities  of  Holland,  and,  fol- 
lowing the  order  of  their  rank  in  the  confederation,  repeated 
his  demand  to  each  one  of  them.  The  attention  of  Europe 
♦Secret  Journals  for  3  October  1782,  Hi.,  243. 


f1 

i 

1 

1 

'!    '1 

1 

i 

u|  III 

^fl'";' 

11' 

!;. 

i '' 

' 

!   > 

i'4  ■ 


528 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  OH.  v. 


i,M 


was  drawn  to  the  sturdy  diplomatist,  who  dared,  alonw  and  un- 
supported, to  initiate  so  novel  and  bold  a  procedure.  Kot 
one  of  the  representatives  of  foreign  powers  at  the  Hague  be- 
lieved that  it  could  succeed. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  February,  Friesland,  whose  people 
had  retained  in  their  own  hands  the  election  of  thei^  regencies, 
declared  in  favor  of  receiving  the  American  envoy ;  and  its 
vote  was  the  index  of  the  opinion  of  the  nation.  A  month 
later,  the  states  of  Holland,  yielding  to  petitions  from  all  the 
principal  to\\nis,  followed  the  example.  Zealand  adhered  on 
the  fourth  of  April;  Overyssel,  on  the  fifth;  (Ironingen,  on 
the  ninth ;  Utrecht,  on  the  tenth ;  and  Guelderland,  on  the 
seventeenth.  On  the  day  which  chanced  to  be  the  seventh 
anniversary  of  "the  battle  of  Lexuigton  "  their  high  mighti- 
nesses, the  states-general,  reporting  the  unanimous  decision  of 
the  seven  provinces,  resolved  that  John  Adams  should  be  re- 
ceived as  the  minister  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  Dutch  republic  was  the  second  power  in  the  world  to 
recognise  their  independence ;  and  the  act  proceeded  from  he- 
roic sympathy  with  a  people  in  })art  descended  from  its  owu 
citizens,  and  stn\ggling  against  oppression  after  the  example 
of  its  own  ancestors.  It  gave  new  life  to  the  public  hope,  es- 
pecially in  New  York.  On  the  fifteenth  of  June  John  Adams 
found  special  pleasure  in  being  formally  presented  to  the  fam- 
ily of  which  the  first  and  the  third  William  accomplished  such 
great  things  "  for  4ie  jirotcstant  religion  and  the  rights  of 
mankind."  "  This  country,"  so  he  Avrote  to  a  friend,  "appears 
to  be  more  a  home  than  anv  other  that  1  have  seen.  I  have 
often  been  to  that  church  at  Leyden,  where  the  jJantcrs  of  Ply- 
mouth worshipped  so  many  years  ago,  and  felt  a  kind  of  venera- 
tion for  the  bricks  tind  timbers." 

The  liberal  spirit  that  was  prevailing  in  the  world  pleaded 
for  America.  The  emperor  of  Austria  proclaimed  in  his  do- 
minions freedom  of  religion.  If  liberty  was  spreading  through 
all  realms,  how  much  more  should  it  make  itself  felt  by  the 
people  of  England  who  reganled  their  own  country  as  its 
chosen  abode!  It  might  suffer  eclipse  during  the  rage  to 
recover  their  ionnar  transatlantic  possessions  by  force ;  but 
the  old  love  of  fret  dom,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  straggle 


iSfSI 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS    ,VEAKY  OF  WAR  WITH  AMERICA. 


529 


of  centuries,  must  reassert  its  sway.  The  temper  of  the  Brit- 
ish mind  was  thorouglilj  changed.  In  the  years  which  fol- 
lowed the  peace  of  1TG3  the  profits  of  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce  increased  with  accelerated  speed.  The 
new  war,  whicii  the  aristocracy  had  kind  leu  in  attenipting  to 
save  a  shilling  in  the  pound  on  their  land  tax  by  taxing  the 
colonies  through  the  agency  of  the  British  parliament,  had 
doubled  the  national  debt  and  more  than  doubled  the  amount 
of  its  yearly  interest.  Rents  were  declining.  Land,  had  fallen 
nearly  one  third  in  price.  The  war  narrowed  the  foreign  mar- 
kets for  British  manufactures.  While  Great  Britain  in  1775 
was  said  to  have  employed  in  navigation  about  seven  thou- 
sand vessels,  Now  England  privateers  had,  before  the  end  of  the 
year  1782,  captured  nearly  one  third  of  that  number,  of  which 
more  than  twelve  hundred,  escaping  recapture,  arrived  in  safe 
ports.*  The  nation  Iiad  become  involved  in  four  wars,  and 
could  no  longer  raise  money  to  carry  them  on ;  so  that,  if  they 
continued,  it  might  ho  driven  to  stop  payment  of  the  interest 
money  on  the  funds,  and  tlms  ruin  their'^future  credit.f  The 
king  was  cast  down  by  the  loss  of  the  good  wishes  of  nearly 
every  great  power  in  Europe.  Tlie  governing  class  saw  that 
the'r  political  influence  on  the  course  of  events  in  Europe 
Avas  gone  and  could  not  be  recovered  till  the  war  should  come 
to  an  end.  Moreover,  tlie  difliculties  in  which  Britain  was 
involved  had  gro'vn  out  of  her  departure  from  the  princi- 
ples, which  had  made  lior  the  most  successful  colonizing  nation 
of  the  world.  Her  colonies  had  succeeded  because  they  took 
with  them  the  liberties  of  the  parent  country.  England  was 
at  war  with  her  own  traditions,  and  a  ministry  was  in  power 
which  as  little  represented  the  lil)eral  colonial  policy  of  Eng- 
land as  the  Stuarts  had  represented  its  constitution.  The 
kingdom  was  divided  against  itself:  the  success  of  America 
was  needed  for  the  future  success  of  the  principles  of  English 
liberty  in  England.  The  cliange  in  the  public  mind  of  Eng- 
land was  so  complete  that  there  was  left  no  party  in  Great 
Britain  which  was  willing  to  assume  the  conduct  of  ailairs 
with  the  condition  of  continuing  the  war,  and  the  inability 

*  G.  Cabot  to  Sewrll,  in  Lodge's  CaboC,  116. 

f  Oswald  in  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  iii.,  448. 


'I 


)v  «! 


i;  m 


630 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  on.  V. 


of  the  ministry  of  Lord  ;N"ortli  to  renew  it  was  conceded 
even  by  tliemselves.  In  the  cahn  liours  of  the  winter  re- 
cess, raembers  of  the  house  of  conuiions  reasoned  disjiassion- 
ately  on  the  strife  with  their  ancient  colonists.  The  estimates 
carried  by  the  ministry  through  parhanient  for  America  were 
limited  to  defensive  measures,  and  the  house  could  no  longer 
deceive  itself  as  to  the  hopelessness  of  the  contest.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  twenty-second  of  February,  a  motion  against 
continuing  the  American  war  was  made  in  the  house  of  com- 
mons by  Conway ;  was  supported  by  Fox,  WiUiam  Pitt,  Barre, 
Wilberforce,  Mahon,  Burke,  and  Cavendish;  and  was  nega- 
tived by  a  majority  of  but  one.  Five  days  later,  a  resolution 
by  Conway  for  an  address  to  the  king  of  the  same  purport  ol)- 
tained  a  majority  of  nineteen. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  Edmund  Burke  wrote  to  Franklin : 
"I  congratulate  you  as  the  friend  of  America;  I  trust  not 
as  the  enemy  of  England ;  I  am  sure  as  the  friend  of  mankind ; 
the  resolution  of  the  house  of  commons,  carried  in  a  very  full 
house,  was,  I  think,  the  opinion  of  the  whole.  I  tir.st  it  will 
lead  to  a  speedy  peace  between  the  two  branches  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation." 

The  address  to  the  king  having  been  answered  in  equivocal 
terms,  on  the  fourth  of  March  ('onway  brought  forward  a  sec- 
ond address,  to  declare  that  the  house  would  consider  as  ene- 
mies to  the  king  and  country  all  those  wlio  would  further 
attempt  the  prosecution  of  a  war  on  the  continent  of  America 
for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  revolted  colon!  s  to  be«]i 
once;  and.  after  a  long  discussion,  it  was  adopted  without  a 
division,  With  the  same  unanimity,  leave  was  the  next  day 
granted  to  bring  iu  a  bill  "enabling"  the  king  to  make  a  peace 
or  a  i.aice  with  America,  The  bill  for  that  purpose  was  uc- 
i;ordingly  introduced  by  the  ministers;  but  more  than  tv.j 
•ml  a  iialf  months  pa^ised  away  before  an  amended  fc!.'  f  it 
btj^niu  a  law  under  their  successors.  A  former  svuetary  of 
legntion  repaired  to  France  as  the  agent  of  the  expiring  min- 
istr  ,  to  parley  with  Yergennes  on  conditions  of  peaf'".  v/hich 
(I'd  not  essentially  dilier  from  thos^  i  f  I^ecker  in  a  former 
\  ear. 

Fox,  iu  the  debate  of  the  fourtli,  denounced  Lord  North 


JP.  V. ;  on.  V. 

conceded 
winter  re- 
disjiassion- 
!  estimates 
erica  were 

no  longer 
Accord- 
on  against 
io  of  coin- 
'itt,  Barre, 
was  nega- 

resolution 
lurport  ol)- 

Franklin : 
trust  not 

mankind ; 

I  very  full 

nst  it  will 
the  Eng- 

equivocal 
;^ard  a  sec- 
ler  as  ene- 
Id  further 
f  America 

to  'bed! 
without  a 

next  day 
Ice  a  peace 
e  was  uc- 
than  t  J 
'CiKt  ^f  it 
cietary  of 
ring  min- 
icp,  v.hich 

a  former 

•rd  North 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS  WEARY  OF  WAR   WITH  AMERICA.      531 

and  his  colleagues  as  "  men  void  of  honor  and  honesty,"  a  co. 
alition  with  any  one  of  them  as  an  infamy ;  but  on  the  t-ov- 
cnth  he  qualilied  his  words  so  as  to  except  Lord  Thurlow. 
William  Pitt,  now  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  which  were 
liis  greatest  days,  stood  aloof,  saying:  "I  cannot  expect  to 
take  any  share  in  a  new  administration,  and  I  never  will  ac- 
cept a  subordinate  situation."  Tlie  king  toiled  to  retard  the 
formation  of  a  ministry  till  he  could  bring  Eockingham  to 
accept  conditions,  but  the  house  of  commons  would  brook  no 
deLay.  On  tlie  twoitieth  more  members  appeared  than  on 
any  occasion  since  the  accession  r.f  the  king,  and  the  crowds 
r.f  spectators  were  unprecedented.  Lord  I^'orth,  having  a  few 
days  before  narrowly  escaped  a  vote  of  cmsure,  rose  at  the 
same  moment  with  a  member  who  was  to  have  moved  a  want 
of  coT^^idtnco  in  the  ministers.  The  two  parties  in  'he  house 
shouted  wildly  the  names  of  their  respective  champions.  The 
speaker  hesitated;  when  Lord  North,  gaining  the  floor  on  a 
question  of  order,  with  good  temper  but  visible  emotion,  an- 
nounced that  his  administration  was  at  an  end. 

The  outgoing  ministry  was  the  worst  which  England  had 
known  since  parliament  had  been  supreme.  "  Such  a  bunch 
of  imbecility,"  said  the  author  of  "  Taxation  no  Tyranny,"  and 
he  might  have  added,  of  corruption,  -'never  disgraced  the 
country;"  and  he  "prajod  and  gave  thanks  "  that  it  was  dis- 
solved. Posterity  has  been  toward  Lord  North  more  lenient 
and  less  just.  America  gained,  through  his  mismanagement, 
independence,  and  can  bear  him  no  grudge.  In  England,  no 
party  claimed  him  as  their  representative,  or  saw  fit  to  bring 
him  to  judgment ;  so  that  his  scholarship,  his  unruffled  tem- 
per, the  puritj-  of  his  private  life,  and  good  words  from  Bums, 
from  Gibbon,  and  more  than  all  from  Macaulay,  have  retained 
fo"  him  among  his  countrymen  a  less  evil  repute  as  minister 
than  he  deserved.  English  opinion  has  decided  that  his  ad- 
ministration no  more  deserves  to  be  recognised  as  the  expres- 
sion of  the  British  mind  on  the  lit  methods  of  colonial  gov- 
ernment, than  the  policy  -i  James  IL  to  be  accepted  as  the 
exponent  of  Englisli  liberty. 

The  people  were  not  yet  known  in  parliament  ri'i  a  power ; 
and  outside  of  them  three  groups  only  could  contribute  mera- 


r^ 


I'lli 


532 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  cii.  V. 


Hi 


l)cr8  to  an  administration.    Tlic  new  toiy  or  conservative  party 
toward  A>-liich  the  wlii^s  represented  hy  J'ortland  and  IJurlio 
were  gravitating,  liad  at  that  time  for  its  nu  4  ecjiispicuous  and 
least  scrnindous  defender  tlie  cliaucellur,  Tlmrlow.     Tlie  fol- 
lowers of  ('liatham,  of  whom   it  was  tlio  cardinal  principle 
that  the  British  constitution  recognises  a  liing  and  a  people  no 
less   than   a  heri'ditary  aristocracy,  and  that  to  prevent  the 
overbearing  weiglit  of  that  aristocracy  the  king  shonld  sus- 
tain the   people,  owned  Slielburne   as   their  standard-bearer. 
In  point  of  years,  experience,  philosophic  culture,  and  supe- 
rioi'ity  to  ambition  as  a  passion,  he  was  their  iittest  leader 
th(nigh  he  had  never  enjoyed  the  intimate  friendship  of  their 
departed  chief.    It  was  lie  who  reconciled  George  HI.  to  the 
lessons  of  Adam  Sniitli,  and  recomuiended  them  to  the  youn<>-er 
Pitt  through  whom  tliey  passed  to  8ir  Eobert  Peel ;  but  his 
habits  of  study,  and  his  want  of  skill  in  parliamentary  tactics 
had  ke})t  him  from  political  connections  as  well  as  from  politi- 
cal intiigues.     Ilis  respect  for  the  monarchical  element  iu  the 
Britisli  constitution  invited  the  slander  tliat  he  was  only  a  coun- 
terfeit liberal,  at  heart  devoted   to  the  king;  but  in  truth  he 
was  very  sincere.     His  reputation  has  comparatively  sult'ered 
with   posterity,  for  no  party  has  taken  cluirge  of  his  fame. 
Moreover,  l)eing  more  liberal  than  his  age,  his  speeches  some- 
times had  an  air  of  ambiguity,  from  his  attempt  to  present  his 
viewr.  in  a  form  that  might  clash  as  little  as  possible  with  the 
prejudices  of  his  hearers.     The  third  set  was  that  of  the  old 
whigs,  which  bad  governed  England  from  the  revolution  till 
the  coming  in  of  George  III,  andwliich  deemed  itself  invested 
with  a  right  to  govern  forever.     Its  principle  was  the  para- 
mount power  of  the  aristoei'acy  ;  its  office,  as  Rockingham  ex- 
pressed it,  "to  figlit  up   against  king  and  people."     They 
claimed  to  be  liberal,  and  many  of  them  were  so ;  but  they 
were  more  willing  to  act  as  the  trustei^s  of  the  people  than 
with  the  people  and  by  the  people.     Like  the  great  Roman 
ln.ivyei-8,  the  best  of  them  meant  to  he  true  to  their  clients, 
h  it    never  rcfpccted    them  as  their  equals.      An  enduring 
liberal  o-overnment  could  at  that  time  be  established  in  Eng- 
land omy  by  a  junction  of  the  party  then  rc'prcsented  l)y 
Shelburue  and  the  Liberal  wing  of  the  supporters  of  Rock- 


Ki".  V. ;  cii.  V. 

ative  party, 
and  Curko 
jieuous  and 
.  The  fol. 
il  principle 
I  people  no 
rcvent  the 
should  sus- 
lard-bearer. 
i,  and  supe- 
tcBt  leader, 
lip  of  their 
111.  to  the 
lie  younger 
el;  but  his 
tary  tactics, 
from  politi- 
uent  in  the 
)nly  a  coun- 
in  truth  he 
'ly  suilered 

his  fame, 
dies  somo- 
present  his 
e  with  tliG 
of  the  old 
olution  till 
ilf  invested 
i  the  para- 
Inghatn  ex- 
B."  They 
;  but  they 
eoplo  tliMi 
;at  Roman 
eir  clients, 

enduring 
id  in  Eng- 
iscnted  by 

of  Rock- 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS   WEARY  OF  WAR  WITH   AMERICA.      533 

ingham.     Such  a  union  Chatham  for  twenty  years  had  striven 
to  bring  about. 

The  king  kept  his  sorrows,  as  well  as  ho  could,  pent  up  in 
his  own  breast,  but  his  mind  was  "truly  torn  to  pieces"  by 
the  inHexil>le  resolve  of  the  house  of  commons  to  stop  the  war 
in  America.     He  blamed  them  for  having  lost  the  feelings  of 
Englishmen.     jVloreover,  he  felt  keenly  "  the  cruel  usage  of  all 
the  powers  of  Europe,"  of  whom  every  one  adhered  to  the 
principles  of  the  armed  neutrality,  and  every  great  one  but 
k?pain  desired  the  complete  emanci})ati()n  of  the  United  States. 
The  day  after  the  ministry  announced  its  retirement  he  pro- 
posed to  Shelburne  to  take  the  administration  with  Thurlow, 
Gower,  and  AVeymouth,  Camden,  (Jrafton,  and  llockingham. 
This   Shelburne  declined  as  "  absolutely  imj^racti cable,"  and, 
from  an  e(pial  regard  to  the  quiet  of  the  sovereign  and  the 
good  of  the  country,  he  urged  the  king  to  send  for  Rocking- 
ham.    The  king  could  not  ])revail  with  himself  to  accept  the 
advice,  and  he  spoke  discursively  of  his  shattered  health,  his 
agitation  of  mind,  his  low  opinion  of  Rockingham''s  under- 
standing, his  horror  of  Charles  Fox,  his  preference  of  Shel- 
burne as  compared  with  the  rest  of  the  opposition.     For  a  day 
he  contemplated  calhng   in  a  number  of   principal  persons, 
among  whom  Rockingham  nught  Ijc  included ;  and,  when  the 
many  objections  to  such  a  measure  were  pointed  out,  he  still 
refused  to  meet  Rockingham  face  to  face,  and  could  not  bring 
himself  further  than  to  receive  him  through  the  intervention  of 
Shelburne. 

In  this  state  of  things,  Shelburne  consented  to  be  the  bearer 
of  a  message  from  the  king,  with  autiiority  to  procure  "  the 
assistance  and  co-operation  of  the  Rockinghams,  cost  what  it 
would,  more  or  less."  "  Necessity,"  relates  the  king,  "  made 
me  yield  to  the  advice  of  Lord  Shelburne."  Before  accepting 
the  treasury,  Rockingham  jiuido  but  one  great  proposition, 
that  there  should  be  "no  veto  to  the  independence  of  Amer- 
ica." The  king,  though  in  bitterness  of  spirit,  consented  in 
writing  to  the  demand.  "  I  was  thoroughly  resolved,"  he  says 
of  himself,  "not  to  open  my  mouth  on  any  negotiation  with 
America." 


I 

Hi 


li' 


1}  f 

I  ! 


if  11 


In 


constructing 


ministry,  Rockingham  composed  it  of 


)  !l 


< 


!  m 


■.  ■  )  = 


'  1 


'i.  i(= 


V  "  ' 


i 


534 


THE  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  en.  V. 


members  from  both  brandies  of  the  liberal  party.  His  own 
connection  was  represented  by  himself,  Fox,  Cavendisli,  Kop- 
pel,  and  Eichmond;  bnt  as  chancellor  he  retained  Thurlow, 
who  bore  Shelburne  malice  and  had  pnbliely  received  the 
glowing  enlogies  of  Fox.  Shelburne  took  with  him  into  the 
cabinet  Camden ;  and,  as  a  balance  to  Thnrlow,  the  great  lawyer 
Dunning,  raising  him  to  the  peerage  as  Lord  Ashburton.  Con- 
way and  Grafton  might  be  esteemed  as  neutral,  having  both 
been  members  alike  of  the  Rockingham  and  the  Chatliam  ad- 
ministrations. Men  of  tlie  next  generation  asked  why  Burke 
was  offered  no  seat  in  the  cabinet.  The  new  tory  party  would 
give  power  to  any  man,  however  born,  that  proved  himself  an 
able  defender  of  their  fortress ;  the  old  whig  party  reserved 
the  highest  places  for  those  cradled  in  the  purple.  "  I  have 
no  ^^cws  to  become  a  minister,"  Burke  said,  "  nor  have  I  any 
right  to  such  views.  I  am  a  man  who  have  no  pretensions  to 
it  from  fortune ; "  and  he  was  happy  with  the  rich  office  of 
paymaster  for  himself,  and  lucrative  places  for  his  kin. 

Franklin,  in  Paris,  carefully  watched  the  changes  of  opin- 
ions in  the  housi;  of  connnons,  and  saw  clearly  that  Shelburne 
must  be  a  member  of  the  new  administration.  Already,  on 
the  twenty-second  of  March  1TS2,  tbrough  a  traveller  return- 
ing to  England,  he  opened  a  correspondence  with  his  friend  of 
many  years,  assuring  him  of  the  continuance  of  his  own  ancient 
respect  for  his  talents  and  virtues,  and  congratulating  him 
on  the  returning  good  disposition  of  his  country  for  America. 
"I  hope,"  continued  he,  '"it  will  tend  to  produce  a  general 
peace,   which  I  am  sure  your  lordship,   with  all  good  men. 


desires;   which  I   wish  to  see  before   I  die 


and   to   which 


I    shall   with  infinite   pleasure  contribute  everything  in  my 
power." 

This  overture  arrived  most  opportunely.  Shelburne,  as  the 
elder  secretary  of  state  having  his  choice,  elected  the  home 
department  which  then  included  AnK>rica ;  so  that  he  liad  by 
right  the  direction  of  all  measures  relating  to  the  Ignited  States. 
On  the  fourth  of  April  he  instructed  Sir  Guy  Carleton  to  pro- 
ceed to  New  York  with  all  possible  expedition  ;  and  he  would 
not  suffer  Arnold  to  return  to  the  land  whieli  he  liad  bargained 
to  betray.     On  the  same  day  he  had  an  interview  with  Lau- 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS   WEARY   OF  WAR  WITH  AMERICA.      535 

rens,  then  in  England,  as  a  prisoner  on  parole ;  and,  having 
learned  of  him  tlio  powers  of  the  American  commissioners, 
before  evening  he  selected  for  the  diplomatic  agent  to  treat 
with  them  Eichard  Oswald  of  Scotland.  The  king,  moved  by 
the  acceptable  part  which  Shelbnme  had  "  acted  in  the  whole 
negotiation  for  forming  the  present  administration,"  deviated 
from  his  pnrpose  of  total  silence  and  gave  his  approval,  alike 
to  the  attempt  "  to  sound  Mr.  Franklin  "  and  to  the  employ- 
ment of  Oswald,  who  had  passed  many  years  in  America,  un- 
derstood it  well,  on  questions  of  commerce  agreed  with  Adam 
Smith,  and  now  engaged  in  the  business  disinterestedly.  By 
him,  writing  as  friend  to  friend,  Shelburne  answered  the  over- 
^  ture  of  Franklin  in  words  which  are  the  key  to  the  treaty  that 

followed. 

^  "  London,  6  April  1782.  Dear  Sir,  I  have  been  favored 
with  your  letter,  and  am  much  obliged  by  your  remembrance. 
I  find  myself  returned  neariy  to  the  same  situation  which  you 
remember  me  to  have  occupied  nineteen  years  ago;  and  I 
should  be  very  glad  to  talk  to  you  as  I  did  then,  and  afterward 
in  1707,  upon  the  means  of  promoting  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind, a  subject  nmch  more  agreeable  to  my  nature  than  the 
best  concerted  plans  for  spreading  misery  and  devastation.  I 
have  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  compass  of  your  mind,  and  of 
your  foresight.  I  have  often  been  beholden  to  both,  and  shall 
be  glad  to  be  so  again,  as  far  as  is  compatible  with  your  situa- 
tion. Your  letter,  discovering  the  same  disposition,  has  made 
me  send  to  you  Mr.  Oswald.  I  have  had  a  longer  acquaint- 
ance with  him  than  even  with  you.  I  believe  him  an  honora- 
ble man,  and,  after  consulting  some  of  our  common  friends,  I 
have  thought  him  the  fittest  for  the  purpose.  He  is  a  paeifical 
man,  and  conversant  in  those  negotiations  which  are  most  in- 
teresting to  mankind.  Thi;:  has  made  me  prefer  him  to  any  of 
our  s])eculative  friends,  or  to  -^ny  person  of  higher  rank.  He 
is  fully  ai)prised  of  my  mind,  and  you  may  give  full  credit  to 
anything  he  assures  you  of.  At  the  same  time,  if  any  other 
channel  occurs  to  you,  I  am  ready  to  embrace  it.  I  wish  to 
retain  the  same  simplicity  and  good  faith  which  subsisted 
between  us  in  transactions  of  less  importance.  Shelburne." 
With  tills  credential,  Oswald  repaired  to  Paris  by  way  of 


^ 


H 


i 


1  ^ 


53G 


THE   AMERICAN  KEVOLDTION. 


EP.  V. ;  Oil.  V. 


I 


i\M 


mi 


|!L; 


'•ii 


Ostcnd.  laurons,  proceeding  to  tlio  nagiie,  found  John  Adums 
planning  how  to  obtain  a  loan  of  money  for  the  United  States 
and  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  and  a  triple  alliance. 
Besides;  believing  that  Shelbunie  was  not  in  earnest,  he  was 
willing  to  wait  till  the  British  nation  should  be  ripe  for  peace. 
In  this  manner  the  Americtin  negotiation  was  left  in  the  hands 
of  Franklin  alone. 

The  dread  of  the  United  States  of  America  became  every 
day  more  intense  in  Sjjain  from  the  desperate  weakness  of  her 
authority  in  her  transatlantic  possessions.  Her  rule  was  hated 
in  them  all ;  and,  as  even  her  allies  confessed,  with  good  rea- 
son. The  seeds  of  rebellion  were  already  sown  in  the  vice- 
royalties  of  Buenos  Ayres  and  Peru ;  and  a  union  of  Creoles 
and  Indians  might  at  any  moment  prove  fatal  to  metropolitan 
dominion.  French  stiitesmen  were  of  opinion  that  Kiiglaud, 
by  emancipating  Spanish  America,  might  indemnify  itself  for 
the  indepeadenco  of  a  part  of  its  own  colonial  em[)irc ;  and 
they  foresaw  in  such  a  revolution  the  greatest  bcnelit  to  the 
commerce  of  their  own  country.  Innnense  naval  preparations 
had  been  made  by  the  Bourbons  for  the  conquest  of  Jamaica ; 
but  now,  from  the  fear  of  spreading  the  love  of  change,  Florida 
Blanca  suppressed  every  wish  to  acquire  that  hated  nest  of 
contraband  trade.  When  the  French  ambassador  in  April  re- 
ported to  him  the  pro])osal  of  Vergennes  to  constitute  its  in- 
habitants an  independent  repu])lic,  he  seemed  to  hear  the  tocsin 
of  insurrection  sounding  from  the  La  Plata  to  San  Francisco, 
and  from  that  time  had  nothing  to  propose  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  allied  fleets  in  the  AVest  Indies.  He  was  per- 
plexed beyond  the  power  of  extrication.  One  hope  only  re- 
mained. Minorca  having  been  wrested  from  the  English,  he 
concentrated  all  the  force  of  Spain  in  Europe  on  the  recovery  of 
Gibraltar,  and  cora])elled  the  aid  of  France  through  her  prom- 
ise not  to  make  peace  until  that  fortress  should  be  given  up. 

iMeasures  for  a  general  peace  must  therefore  begin  with 
America.  As  the  pacification  of  the  late  British  dependen- 
cies belonged  to  the  department  of  Lord  Shelburne,  the  cabi- 
net as  a  body  respected  his  right  to  conduct  the  negotia- 
tion with  the  United  States ;  but  Fox,  leagued  with  young 
men  as  uncontrollable  as  himself,  resolved  to  fasten  a  quar 


OH.  V. 


1783.     BRITAIJT  IS  WEARY  OF   WAR  WITH   AMERICA.      537 


in  Adums 
od  States, 
i  alliance. 
it,  ho  was 
for  peace, 
the  Lands 

ime  every 
2S8  of  lier 
was  hated 
good  rea- 
the  vice- 
f  Creoles 
tropolitan 
England, 
itself  for 
pire;  and 
jiit  to  the 
jparations 
.raniaica ; 
e,  Florida 
1  nest  of 
April  re- 
ito  its  in- 
the  tocsin 
^'rancisco, 
3  employ- 
was  per- 
j  only  re- 
iglish,  he 
covcry  of 
ler  prom- 
rcn  up. 
!gin  with 
[ependeu- 
the  cabi- 
negotia- 
th  young 
ti  a  quar- 


rel upon  him,  and  to  get  into  his  own  hands  every  part  of 
the  negotiations  for  peace.  At  a  cabinet  meeting  on  the 
twelfth  of  April  he  told  Shelburno  and  those  who  sided  with 
him,  that  he  was  dcstermined  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  crisis; 
and  on  the  same  day  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  young  friends : 
"They  must  yield  entirely.  If  they  do  not,  wo  must  go  to 
war  again ;  that  is  all :  I  am  sure  I  am  ready."  Oswald  at  that 
moment  was  on  his  way  to  Paris,  where  on  the  sixteenth  ho 
went  straightway  to  Fi-anklin.  The  latter,  speaking  not  his 
own  opinion  only,  but  that  of  congress  and  of  every  one  of  Iiia 
associate  commissioners,  explained  that  the  United  States  could 
not  treat  for  peace  with  Great  Britain  unless  it  was  likewise 
intended  to  treat  with  France  ;  and,  though  Oswald  desired  to 
keep  aloof  from  European  afl'airs,  he  allowed  himself  to  be 
introduced  by  Franklin  to  Vergcnnes,  who  received  with  pleas- 
ure assurances  of  the  good  disposition  of  the  British  king, 
reciprocated  them  on  the  part  of  his  own  sovereign,  and  in- 
vited an  offer  of  its  conditions.  He  -wished  America  and 
France  to  treat  directly  with  British  plenipotentiaries,  each  for 
itself,  the  two  negotiations  to  move  on  with  equal  step,  and  the 
two  treaties  to  be  simultaneously  signed. 

In  the  instniction  to  the  peace  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  in  August  1779,  congress  wrote  ;  "  It  is  of  tlie 
utmost  importance  to  the  peace  and  commerce  of  the  ITuited 
States  that  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  should  be  ceded,  yet  a 
desire  of  terminating  the  war  has  induced  us  not  to  make  the 
acquisition  an  ultimatum."  From  Amsterdam,  John  Adams 
questioned  whether,  with  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  in  the  hands 
of  the  English,  the  Americans  could  ever  have  a  real  peace. 
In  a  like  spirit  Franklin,  taking  every  precaution  to  keep  this 
suggestion  from  the  knowledge  of  the  French  government, 
intrusted  to  Oswald  "  Notes  for  Conversation,"  in  which  the 
vohmtary  cession  of  Canada  was  suggested  as  the  surety  "  of 
a  durable  peace  and  a  sweet  reconciliation."  At  the  same 
time  he  replied  to  his  old  friend  Lord  Shelburne :  "  I  desire 
r^  other  channel  of  communication  between  us  than  that  of 
ALv  Oswald,  which  I  think  your  lordship  has  chosen  with 
ludch  judgment.  lie  will  be  witness  of  my  acting  with  all 
the  sincerity  and  good  faith  which  you  do  me  the  honor  to 


il!^' 


a 


;■■ 


■  I' 


h 


538 


THE  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  en.  V. 


■  )  .1, 


expect  from  me ;  and  if  he  is  enabled,  when  he  returns  hither, 
to  conimuniciite  more  fully  your  lordsliip's  mind  on  the  princi- 
pal points  to  1)0  settled,  I  think  it  m:iy  contribute  much  to  the 
blessed  work  our  hearts  are  engaged  in." 

Another  great  step  was  taken  by  Franklin.  lie  excluded 
Spain  altogether  from  the  American  negotiation,  and,  as  Ad- 
ams was  detained  in  Holland,  and  Jefferson  was  not  in  Europe, 
and  Laurens  was  a  prisoner  on  parole,  in  "a  pressing  letter" 
he  entreated  Jay,  his  only  remaining  colleague,  to  come  to 
Paris,  writing :  "  I  wish  you  here  as  soon  as  possible ;  you 
would  be  of  infinite  service.  Spain  has  taken  four  years  to 
consider  whether  she  should  treat  with  us  or  Jiot.  Give  her 
forty,  and  let  us  in  the  mean  time  mind  our  own  business.  I 
am,  my  dear  friend,  most  affectionately  yours." 

On  lie  twenty-third,  shortly  after  the  return  of  Oswald  to 
London  the  cabinet  on  his  report  agreed  to  send  him  again  to 
Franklin  to  accpiaint  him  of  their  readiness  to  treat  at  Paris 
for  a  general  peace,  conceding  American  independence,  but 
otherwise  maintaining  the  treaties  of  ITOS.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth,  Shelburne,  who  was  in  earnest,  gave  to  his  agent  the 
verbal  instruction :  "  If  America  is  independent,  she  must  be 
so  of  the  whole  world,  with  no  ostensible,  tacit,  or  secret  con- 
nection with  France."  Canada  could  not  be  ceded.  It  was 
"  reasonable  to  expect  a  free  trade,  unencumbered  with  duties, 
to  every  part  of  America,"  words  which,  as  used  in  those  days, 
meant  only  that  British  ships  shoidd  be  admitted  to  every 
American  port  of  entry  without  any  discriminating  duty. 
"  All  debts  due  to  British  subjects  were  to  be  secure,  and 
the  loyalists  to  be  restored  to  a  full  enjoyment  of  their  rights 
and  privileges."  As  a  compensation  for  the  restoration  of 
New  York,  Charleston,  and  Savannah,  the  river  Penobscot 
might  be  proposed  for  the  eastern  boundary  of  New  Eng. 
land.  "Finally,"  he  said,  "tell  Dr.  Franklin  candidly  and 
confidentially  Lord  Shelbmnio's  situation  with  tlie  king  ;  that 
his  lordship  will  make  no  use  of  it  but  to  keep  his  word  with 
mankind."  With  these  instructions,  Oswald  returned  imme- 
diately to  Paris,  bearing  from  Shelburne  to  Franklin  a  most 
friendly  letter,  to  which  the  king  had  given  his  thorough  ap- 
proval. 


iM.  Ill 


m 


#     - 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS  WEARY  OF   WAR  WITH  AMERICA. 


639 


"With  the  European  belligerents,  the  communication  was 
necessarily  to  proceed  from  the  department  of  state  for  foreign 
affaire,  of  which  Fox  was  the  chief.  lie  entered  upon  the  busi- 
ness in  a  spirit  that  foreboded  no  success ;  for,  at  the  moment 
of  his  selection  of  an  emissary,  he  declared  that  he  did  not 
tliink  it  much  signified  how  soon  he  should  break  up  the  cabi- 
net. Tlie  person  of  whom  he  made  choice  to  treat  on  the 
weightiest  interests  with  the  most  skilful  diplomatist  of  Europe 
was  Thomas  Grenvllle,  one  of  his  own  partisans,  a  young 
man  of  an  active  and  penetrating  mhid,  but  with  no  expe- 
rience in  pul)lic  business,  and  a  scant  knowledge  of  the  for- 
eign relations  of  his  own  country. 

Arriving  in  Paris  on  the  eighth  of  May,  Grenville  deliv- 
ered to  Franklin  a  most  cordial  letter  of  introduction  from 
Fox,  and  mot  with  the  heartiest  welcome.  On  the  next  morn- 
ing Franklin,  after  receiving  him  at  breakfast,  took  him  in  his 
own  carriage  to  Versailles ;  and  there  the  dismissed  postmas- 
ter-general for  America,  at  the  request  of  the  British  secretary 
of  state,  introduced  the  son  of  the  author  of  the  American 
stamp-act  as  the  British  plenipotentiary  to  the  minister  for 
foreign  affairs  of  the  Bourbon  king.  Statesmen  at  Paris  and 
Vienna  were  anmsed  on  hearing  that  the  envoy  of  the  "  rebel " 
colonies  was  become  "  the  introductor  "  of  the  representatives 
of  Gi-eat  Britain  at  the  court  of  Versailles. 

Vorgen aes  received  Grenville  most  cordially  as  the  nephew 
of  an  old  friend,  but  smiled  at  his  offer  to  grant  to  France  the 
independence  of  the  United  States ;  and  Franklin  refused  to 
accept  at  second  hand  that  independence  which  his  country 
had  already  won.  Grenville  remarked  that  the  war  had  been 
provoked  by  encouragement  from  France  to  the  Americans  to 
revolt ;  to  which  Vergennes  answered  with  warmth  that  France 
had  found  and  not  made  America  independent,  and  that  Ameri- 
can independence  was  not  the  only  cause  of  the  war.  On  the 
tenth,  Grenville,  unaccompanied  by  Franklin,  met  Vergennes 
and  Aranda,  and  offered  peace  on  the  basis  of  the  independ- 
ence of  the  United  States  and  the  treaty  of  1763.  "  That 
treaty,"  said  Vergennes,  "  I  can  never  read  without  a  shudder. 
The  king,  my  master,  cannot  in  any  treaty  consider  the  inde- 
pendence of  America  as  ceded  to  him.     To  do  so  would  be  in- 

VOL.  V. — 36 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4303 


<^ 


O 


\ 


540 


THE  AMEPwIOAN  REVOLUTION. 


BP.  V. ;  OH.  V. 


jurious  to  tlie  dignity  of  his  Britannic  majesty."  The  Span- 
ish  ivmbassador  urged  with  veliemence  that  tlie  griefs  of  the 
king  of  Spain  were  totally  distinct  from  the  independence  of 
America. 

"With  regard  to  America,  the  frequent  conversations  of  the 
young  envoy  with  Franklin,  who  received  him  with  constant 
hospitaHty,  cleared  up  his  views.  It  was  explained  to  him 
with  precision  that  the  United  States  were  free  from  every 
sort  of  engagement  with  France  except  those  contained  in  the 
public  treaties  of  commerce  and  alliance.  Grenville  asked  if 
these  obligations  extended  to  the  recovery  of  Gibraltar  for 
Spain;  and  Franklin  answered:  "It  is  nothing  to  America 
who  has  Gibraltar.''  But  Franklin  saw  in  Grenville  a  young 
statesman  ambitious  of  recommending  himseK  as  an  able  ne- 
gotiator ;  in  Oswald,  a  man  who,  free  from  interested  motives, 
earnestly  sought  a  final  settlement  of  all  differences  between 
Great  Britain  and  America.  To  the  former  he  made  no  objec- 
tion, but  he  would  have  been  loath  to  lose  the  latter ;  and,  be- 
fore beginning  to  treat  of  the  conditions  of  peace,  he  wrote  to 
Shelburne  his  belief  that  th"  "  moderation,  prudent  counsels, 
and  sound  judgment  of  Oswald  might  contril)ute  much,  not 
only  to  the  speedy  conclusion  of  a  peace,  but  to  the  framing  of 
such  a  peace  as  may  be  firm  and  lasting."  The  king,  as  he 
read  the  wishes  of  Franklin,  which  were  seconded  by  Yer- 
gennes,  "  thought  it  best  to  let  Oswald  remain  at  Paris,"  say- 
ing that  "  his  correspondence  carried  marks  of  coming  from  a 
man  of  sense," 

"While  Oswald  came  to  London  to  make  his  second  report, 
news  that  better  reconciled  the  English  to  treat  for  peace  ar- 
rived from  the  Caribbean  Islands.  The  fleet  of  de  Grasse  in 
1781,  after  leaving  the  coast  of  the  United  States,  gave  to 
France  the  naval  ascendency  in  the  "West  Indies.  St.  Eusta- 
tius  was  recaptured,  and  generously  restored  to  the  United 
Provinces.  St.  Christopher,  Nevis,  and  IMontscrrat  were  suc- 
cessively taken.  On  the  nineteenth  of  February  1782,  Eod- 
ney  reappeared  at  Barbados  with  a  reinforcement  of  twelve 
sail,  and  in  the  next  week  he  effected  a  junction  with  the 
squadron  of  Hood  to  the  leeward  of  Antigua.  To  cope  with 
this  great  adversary,  de  Grasse,  who  was  closely  watched  by 


I 


.■^ff 


1W2. 


BEITALNT  IS  WEAEY  OF  WAR  Wmt  AMERIOA. 


3« 

P„"r*!lL*™"  ^'-  ^"''^™"^'  ™te  ^tl"  the  Spanish  squadron. 

out  of  Fort  Royal  ,n  Martmiquo;  and,  with  only  the  advan- 
tage  of  a  few  hours  over  the  British,  he  ran  f or  HispaS 
Onthemnth  a  partial  enpgement  took  place  near  Sd 
of  Dominica     At  daylight  on  the  twelfth,  Rodney,  by  sMftil 
ma.c»uvi.s,  drew  near  the  French  in  th;  expanse  of  tato 

MaL  6a  antTVl  f  "*  »*  Guadaloupe,  t'ie  Saintes,  and 
mane  Galante.  The  sky  was  clear,  the  sea  quiet ;  the  trade- 
wmd  blew  lightly,  and,  having  the  advantage  of  its  unvary  W 
We,  Rodney  made  the  signal  for  attack."  Tlie  British  h"d 
hirty-SLx  ships;  the  French,  with  a  less  number,  excelled  n 
he  weight  f  metal.  The  French  ships  were  better  bniltth" 
Bnhsh  in  superior  repair.    The  co.nplemcnt  of  the  French 

SCd     Tr'Vu',"""''  ^"''^''  mariners  were  better 
*sciplmed.    The  fight  began  at  seven  m  the  morning,  and 

hours.  The  French  handled  their  guns  well  at  a  distance,  but 
m>  close  fight  there  wa.  a  want  of  personal  exertion  and  ^ 
enee  of  mmd.  About  the  time  when  the  sun  was  at  the  Ugh- 
est  Rodney  cu  the  I  ne  of  his  enemy ;  and  the  battle  ,vas  cfn- 
tmued  n  detail,  all  the  ships  on  each  side  being  nearly  equallv 

not  strike  its  colors  till  it  was  near  foundering,  and  only  three 
men  were  left  unhurt  on  the  upper  deck.    Fot  otherX  o 
his  fleet  were  captured ;  one  sunk  m  the  action. 

or  ^n  7/"^% oVV™'™  ^''"'"  «""=  'h^^i'i'l  were  killed 
or  wounded;  of  the  French,  thrice  as  many,  for  their  ships 
wer  cro^^ed  with  over  five  thousand  land  ti.ops,  and  the  Z 
of  .  ue  British  w,as  rapid  an.'  well  aimed.  The  going  down  of 
the  sun  put  an  end  to  the  battle,  and  Rodney  neglfcted  pur- 
suit.   Just  .at  nightfall  one  of  the  ships  of  wliichthe  Eniish 

ett  ,!:^:"  l""'"'"™  ""7  "P-  '-^  ""^  ?<«■•  ™"='«»  "-ho  were 
cast  into  the  sea,  some  clung  to  bits  of  the  wreck :  the  sharks 

Iw  f  '«  ''^*?"*  "•"'""'^  *»»''  from  the  ;vatemro"nd 
about  tore  them  off,  and  even  after  the  carnage  of  the  day 
could  hardly  be  glutted.  s   oi  me  aay 

The  feeling  of  having  recovered  the  superiority  at  sea  rec- 
onciled England  to  the  idea  of  peace.    On  the  eighteenth  of 


J 


I 


;^:.i 


I 


hu 


642 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION, 


KP.  V. :  on.  V. 


May,  the  day  on  wliich  tidings  of  the  victory  were  received, 
the  cabinet  agreed  to  invite  proposals  from  Vergennes.  Soon 
after  this  came  a  letter  from  Grenville,  in  which  he  argued 
that,  as  America  had  been  the  road  to  war  with  France,  sc  it 
offered  the  most  practicable  way  of  getting  out  of  it ;  and  the 
cabinet  agreed  to  a  minutf^  almost  in  his  words,  "  to  propose 
the  indepen'^^  ^ncy  of  America  in  the  first  instance,  instead  of 
making  it  a  condition  of  a  general  treaty."  The  language  of 
Fox  was  accepted  by  Shelbume,  was  imbodied  by  him  in  his 
instructions  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton  at  New  York,  and  formed  the 
rule  of  action  for  Oswald  on  his  return  with  renewed  authori- 
ty to  Paris.  Independence  was,  as  the  king  expressed  it,  "  the 
dreadful  price  now  offered  to  America  "  for  peace. 

A  commission  was  forwarded  to  Grenville  by  Fox  to  treat 
with  France,  but  with  no  other  country ;  yet  he  devoted  nearly 
all  his  letter  of  instructions  to  the  relations  with  America, 
showing  that  in  a  negotiation  for  peace  the  United  States  ought 
not  to  be.  encumbered  by  a  power  like  Spain,  "which  had 
never  assisted  them  during  the  war,  and  had  even  ii3msed  to 
acknowledge  their  independence." 

When  Grenville  laid  before  Yergennes  his  credentials,  he 
received  the  answer  that  they  were  very  insufficient,  as  they 
did  not  enable  him  to  treat  with  Spain  and  America,  the  allies 
of  France ;  or  with  the  Netherlands,  her  partner  in  the  war. 
Eepulsed  at  Versailles,  Grenville  took  upon  himself  to  play 
the  plenipotentiary  with  America ;  on  the  fourth  of  June  he 
confided  to  Franklin  the  minute  of  the  cabinet,  and  hoped  to 
draw  from  him  in  return  the  American  conditions  for  a  sepa- 
rate peace.     But  Franklin  would  not  unfold  the  American 
conditions  to  a  person  not  authorized  to  receive  them.^    Ins- 
tated by  this  "  unlucky  cheek,"  wliich  "  completely  annihilated" 
his  hopes  of  a  great  diplomatic  success,  Grenville  made  bitter 
and  passionate  and  altogether  groundless  complaints  of  Os- 
wald.    He  would  have  Fox  not  lose  one  moment  to  fight  the 
battle  against  Shelburne,  and  to  take  to  himself  the  Anierican 
business  by  comprehending  all  the  negotiations  for  peace  in  one. 
Though  Fox  had  given  up  all  present  hope  of  making  peace, 
he  enlarged  the  powers  of  Grenville  so  as  to  include  any  poten- 
tate or  state  then  at  war  with  Great  Britain ;  and  he  beat  about 


1782.     BRITAIN  IS  WExiRY  OF  WAR  WITH  AMERICA.      543 


In 


for  proofs  of  Sliclburne's  "  duplicity  of  conduct,"  resolved,  if 
he  could  but  get  tliem,  to  "  drive  to  an  open  rui)ture." 

Under  his  extended  powers,  Grenvila  made  haste  to  claim 
the  right  to  treat  with  America ;  but,  when  questioned  by 
Franklin,  he  was  obliged  to  o^yw  that  he  was  acting  without 
the  sanction  of  parliament.  Within  twenty-four  hours  of  the 
passing  of  the  act  of  parliament  enabhng  the  king  to  treat  for 
peace  with  America,  the  powers  for  Oswald  as  a  negotiator  of 
peace  with  the  United  States  were  begun  upon,  and  were 
"comjiletely  finished  in  the  four  days  following;"  but,  on 
the  assertion  of  Fox  that  they  would  prejudice  everything 
then  depending  in  Paris,  they  were  held  back.  Fox  then  pro- 
posed that  America,  even  without  a  treaty,  should  be  recog- 
nised as  an  independent  power.  Had  he  prevailed,  the  business 
of  America  must  have  passed  from  the  home  department  to 
that  for  foreig.i  affairs;  but,  after  full  reflection,  the  cabinet 
decided  "that  independence  should  in  the  first  instance  be 
allowed  as  the  basis  to  treat  on."  Professing  discontent,  "Fox 
declared  that  his  part  was  taken  to  quit  his  office." 

The  next  day  Lord  Eockiugham  expired.  His  ministry 
left  great  memorials  of  its  short  career.  Through  the  media- 
tion of  Shelburne,  it  forced  the  king  to  treat  for  peace  with 
the  United  States  on  the  basis  of  their  independence.  It 
emancipated  the  trade  of  Ireland.  The  volunteer  army  of  that 
kingdom,  commanded  by  ofiicers  of  its  own  choice,  having 
increased  to  nearly  fifty  thousand  well-armed  men,  united  un- 
der one  general-in-chief,  the  viceroy  reported  that,  "  unless  it 
was  determined  that  the  knot  which  bound  the  two  countries 
should  be  severed  forever,"  the  points  required  by  the  Irish 
parliament  nmst  be  conceded.  Fox  would  rather  have  seen 
Ireland  totally  separated  than  kept  in  obedience  by  force. 
Eden,  one  of  Lord  North's  commissioners  in  America  and 
lately  his  secretary  for  Ireland,  in  a  moment  of  ill-humor  was 
the  first  to  propose  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  George  I.,  which 
aeserted  tlie  right  of  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  to  make 
laws  to  bind  the  people  and  the  kingdom  of  Ireland ;  and,  after 
reflection,  the  ministry  of  Rockingham  adopted  and  carried  the 
measure.  Appeals  from  Irish  courts  of  law  to  the  British 
house  of  peers  were  abolished  ;  and  Ireland,  owning  allegiance 


ii 


i\ 


M 


i'  i' 


;,  ii; 


1  <J  ' 


I 


«■ 


ff 


I 


544 


TUE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.        ep.  v.  ;  on.  v. 


to  the  same  king  as  Great  Britain,  wrenched  from  the  British 
parhameut  the  independence  of  its  own.  These  were  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  American  revohition ;  but  the  gratitude  of  the 
Irish  took  the  direction  of  loyalty  to  their  king,  and  in  1782 
their  legislature  voted  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  for  the 
levy  of  twenty  thousand  seamen. 

During  the  ministry  of  Rockingham  the  British  house  of 
commons,  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Cromwell,  seriously 
considered  the  question  of  a  reform  In  the  representation  of 
Great  Britain.  The  author  of  the  proposition  was  William 
Pitt,  then  without  office,  but  the  acknowledged  heir  of  the 
principles  of  Chatham.  The  resolution  of  inquiry  was  received 
with  ill-concealed  repugnance  by  Rockingham.  Its  support 
by  Fox  was  lukewarm,  and  bore  the  mark  of  his  aristocratic 
connections.  Edmund  Burke,  in  his  fixed  opposition  to  re- 
form, was  almost  beside  himself  with  passion,  and  was  with 
difficulty  persuaded  to  remain  away  from  the  debate.  The 
friends  of  Shelburne,  on  the  contrary,  gave  to  the  motion  their 
cordial  suj)port ;  yet,  by  the  absence  and  opposition  of  many 
of  the  Rockingham  connection,  th(!  question  on  this  first  divi- 
sion in  the  house  of  commons  upon  the  state  of  the  represen- 
tation in  the  British  parliament  was  lost,  though  only  by  a 
majority  of  twenty.  The  freedom  of  Ireland  and  the  hope 
of  reform  in  the  British  parliament  itself  went  hand  in  hand 
with  the  triumph  of  liberty  in  America. 

The  accession  of  a  liberal  ministry  revived  in  Frederic  of 
Prussia  his  old  inclination  to  friendly  relations  with  England. 
The  empress  of  Russia  included  the  government  in  her  admira- 
tion of  the  British  people  ;  and  Fox  on  his  side,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  ministry,  but  to  the  great  vexation  of  the  king, 
accepted  her  declaration  of  the  maritime  rights  of  neutrals. 
At  the  moment  no  practical  result  followed ;  for  the  cabinet, 
as  the  price  of  their  formal  adhesion  to  her  code,  demanded 
her  alliance. 


I 


1782.     SHELBURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      545 


CHAPTER  YI. 

8helbuene  strives  sincerely  for  peace. 
July-August  1782. 

On  tlie  deatli  of  Eocldngham,  tlie  king  offered  to  Shel- 
biirne  by  letter  "  the  employment  of  first  lord  of  tlie  treasury, 
and  witli  it  tlie  fullest  political  confidence."  Of  no  British 
minister  had  the  principles  been  so  liberal.  He  wished  a  thor- 
ough reform  of  the  representation  of  the  people  of  Great  Brit- 
ain in  parliament.  Far  from  him  was  the  thought  that  the 
prosperity  of  America  could  be  injurious  to  England.  He 
regarded  neighboring  nations  as  associates  ministering  to  each 
other's  welfare,  and  wished  to  form  with  France  treaties  of 
commerce  as  well  as  of  peace.  But  Fox,  who  was  entreated  to 
remain  in  the  ministry  as  secretary  of  state  with  a  colleague  of 
his  own  choosing  and  an  ample  share  of  pow(  •  set  up  against 
him  the  narrow-minded  duke  of  Portland,  under  whose  name 
the  old  aristocracy  was  to  rule  parliament,  king,  and  people. 
To  gratify  the  violence  of  his  headstrong  pride,  he  threw  away 
the  opportunity  of  taking  a  chief  part  in  restoring  peace  to 
the  world,  and  struck  a  blow  at  liberal  government  in  his  own 
country  from  which  it  did  not  recover  in  his  lifetime. 

The  old  whig  aristocracy  was  on  the  eve  of  dissolution.  In 
a  few  years  those  of  its  members  who,  like  Bui-ke  and  the 
duke  of  Portland,  were  averse  to  "  shaking  the  smallest  par- 
ticle of  the  settlement  at  the  revolution  of  1G88,"  were  to 
me)-ge  themselves  in  the  new  tory  or  conservative  party  ;  the 
rest  adopted  the  watchword  of  reform ;  and,  when  they  began 
to  govern,  it  was  with  the  principles  of  Chatham  and  Shel- 
burne.     Fox,  who  was  already  brooding  on  a  coalition  with 


til 


i. 


S 


n 


'(?! 


646 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.        ep.v.;oh.vi. 


the  ministry  so  lately  overthrown,  insisted  with  his  friends  that 
Lord  Slielbnnie  was  as  fully  devoted  to  the  court  as  Lord 
North  in  his  woi-st  days.  But  Lord  North,  in  his  love  of 
office,  had,  contrary  to  his  own  judgment,  persisted  in  the 
American  war  to  please  the  king  ;  Shelbume  accepted  power 
only  after  he  had  brou^lit  the  king  to  consent  to  peace  with  in- 
dependent America. 

For  the  home  department  the  king  preferred  William  Pitt, 
who  seemed  to  be  in  little  danger  of  "  becoming  too  much 
dipped  in  the  wild  measures  "  of  "  the  leaders  of  sedition  ; " 
but  it  was  assigned  to  the  more  experienced  Thomas  Towns- 
hend ;  and  Pitt,  at  three-and-twenty  years  old,  became  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer.  The  seals  of  the  foreign  office  were 
intrusted  to  Lord  Grantham. 

In  the  house  of  commons  Fox,  on  the  ninth  of  July,  made 
his  defence,  which,  in  its  vagueness  and  hesitation,  betrayed 
his  consciousness  that  he  had  no  ground  to  stand  upon.  In 
the  debate  Conway  said  with  truth  that  eagerness  for  exclu- 
sive power  had  been  the  guiding  motive  of  Fox,  between  whom 
and  Shelbume  the  difference  of  policy  for  America  was  very 
immaterial ;  but  Shelbume  had  been  able  to  convince  his  royal 
master  that  an  acquiescence  in  its  independence  was,  from  the 
situation  of  the  country  and  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the 
wisest  and  most  expedient  measure  that  government  could 
adopt.  Burke  called  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  the  sincerity 
of  his  belief  that  "  the  ministry  of  Lord  Shelbume  would  be 
fifty  times  worse  than  that  of  Lord  ISTorth,"  declaring  that ''  his 
accursed  principles  were  to  be  found  in  Machiavel,  and  that 
but  for  want  of  understanding  he  would  bo  a  Catiline  or  a 
Borgia."  "  Shellnime  has  been  faithful  and  just  to  me,"  wrote 
William  Jones  to  Burke,  deprecating  his  vehemence:  "the 
principles  which  he  has  professed  to  me  are  such  as  my  reason 
approved."  "  In  all  my  intercourse  with  him,  I  never  saw  any 
instance  of  his  being  insincere,"  wrote  Franklin,  long  after  Shel- 
bume had  retired  from  office.  On  the  tenth,  Shelbume  said 
in  the  house  of  lords  :  "  I  stand  firmly  upon  my  consistency. 
I  never  will  consent  that  a  certain  number  of  great  lords  should 
elect  a  prime  minister  who  is  the  creature  of  an  aristocracy 
and  is  vested  with  the  plenitude  of  power,  while  the  king  h 


1.! 


1782.     SIIELBURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      547 

nothing  more  than  a  pageant  or  a  pui-)pet.  In  that  case,  the 
monarchical  part  of  tlie  constitution  would  be  absorbed  by  the 
aristocracy,  and  the  famed  constitution  of  England  would  be 
no  more.  The  membei-s  of  the  cabinet  can  vouch  that  the 
principle  laid  down  relative  to  i)eacc  with  America  has  not  in 
the  smallest  degree  been  departed  from.  Ncjihin^j  is  farther 
from  my  intention  than  to  renew  the  war  in  America;  the 
sword  is  sheathed,  never  to  be  drawn  there  airain." 

On  the  day  on  wliich  Fox  withdrew  from  the  ministry, 
Shelburne  Avrote  to  Oswald :  "  I  hope  to  receive  early  assur- 
ances fi'cm  you  that  my  confidence  in  the  sincerity  and  good 
faith  of  Doctor  Franklin  has  not  been  misplaced,  and  that  he 
will  concur  with  you  in  endeavoring  to  render  eHectual  the 
great  work  in  which  our  hearts  and  wishes  arc  so  equally  in- 
terested. We  have  adopted  his  idea  of  the  method  to  come 
to  a  general  pacification  by  treating  separately  with  each  party. 
I  beg  him  to  believe  that  I  can  have  no  idea  or  design  of  acting 
toward  him  and  his  associates  but  in  the  most  open,  liberal, 
and  honorable  manner." 

Franklin,  from  his  long  residence  in  England,  knew  thor- 
oughly well  the  relations  of  its  parties,  and  the  character  of 
its  public  men,  of  whom  the  best  were  his  personal  friends. 
He  was  aware  how  precarious  was  the  hold  of  Shelburne  on 
power ;  and  lie  made  all  haste  to  bring  about  an  immediate  paci- 
ficatic-i.  On  the  tenth  of  July,  in  his  own  house  near  Paris, 
and  at  his  own  invitation,  he  had  an  interview  with  Oswald, 
and  proposed  to  him  the  American  conditions  of  peace.  The 
articles  which  could  not  bo  departed  from  were :  the  fidl  and 
complete  independence  of  the  thirteen  states,  and  the  with- 
drawal of  all  British  troops  from  them ;  the  territorial  integ- 
rity of  each  one  of  them,  as  they  were  before  the  Quebec  act 
of  177-i,  if  not  a  still  more  contracted  state,  on  a  more  ancient 
footing ;  the  settlement  of  the  boundaries  between  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  and  Canada ;  a  freedom  of  fishing  on  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland  and  elsewhere,  as  well  for  fishes  as  whales, 
and,  as  Oswald  understood  him,  with  the  right  to  dry  fish  on 
land.  Having  already  explained  that  nothing  could  be  done 
for  the  loyalists  by  the  United  States,  as  their  estates  had  been 
confiscated  by  laws  of  particular  states  which  congress  had  no 


.^ 


i.t 


n 


i' 


iii 


4. 


#^ 


548 


THE  AMP:RICAN   revolution.       Kr.  V. ;  en.  vi. 


'i 


hi 


power  to  repeal,  he  further  dcnioiuitrated  that  Groat  IJritain,  by 
its  conduct  and  example,  had  forfeited  every  right  to  intercede 
for  them.  To  prove  it  he  read  to  Oswald  the  orders  of  the 
British  in  Carolina  for  confiscating  and  selling  the  lands  and 
property  of  all  patriots  under  the  direction  of  the  military ; 
and  ho  declared  definitively  that,  though  the  separate  govern- 
ments might  show  compassion  where  it  was  deserved,  the 
American  conuni-ssioners  for  peace  could  not  make  compensa- 
tion of  refugees  a  part  of  the  treaty,  lie  further  directed 
attention  to  the  persistent,  systematic  destruction  of  American 
property  by  the  British  armies,  as  furnishing  a  claim  to  indem- 
nity which  might  be  set  oif  against  the  demands  of  British 
merchants  for  debts  contracted  before  the  war.  Fraidvlin  rec- 
ommended, but  not  as  an  ultinuituu),  a  perfect  reciprocity  in 
regard  to  ships  and  trade.  He  WJis  at  that  time  employed  on 
a  treaty  of  reimbursement  to  France  by  the  United  States  for 
its  advances  of  money ;  and  he  explained  to  Oswald,  as  he  had 
before  exi)lalned  to  Grenville,  the  exact  limit  of  their  obUga- 
tions  to  Franco. 

Franklin  intimated  that  American  affairs  must  be  ended  by 
a  separate  couMiussion,  and  that  he  did  not  from  any  connec- 
tion with  other  states  hesitate  as  to  coming  to  a  conclusion,  so 
as  to  end  the  American  quarrel  in  a  short  time.  The  negotia- 
tion was  opened  and  kept  up  with  the  knowledge  of  Vergen- 
lios ;  but  Franklin  withheld  from  him  cverjthing  relating  to  its 
cond.'tions.  Jay,  who  had  arrived  in  Paris  on  the  twenty-thii'd 
of  June,  from  severe  illness  took  no  part  in  this  interview. 

The  moment  when  England  accepted  the  necessity  of  con- 
ceding independence  to  the  thirteen  colonies  which  she  had 
trained  to  the  love  of  freedom  and  by  her  own  inconsisten- 
cies had  forced  to  take  up  arms,  was  in  its  importance  one  of 
the  grandest  moments  in  her  history.  But  the  voice  of  the 
house  of  commons  was  confused  by  its  memories  and  regrets, 
the  rancor  of  conflicting  i)arties,  and  the  reserve  of  statesmen 
for  whom  the  new  morning  was  about  to  dawn.  The  house 
of  commons,  as  with  averted  eyes  it  framed  a  bill  permitting 
its  king  to  let  thirteen  colonies  go  free,  did  its  work  awkwardly 
but  thoroughly.  They  expressed  the  wish  for  peace,  and  au- 
thorized the  king  to  treat  with  the  thirteen  enumerated  colo- 


t 


u-n 


1782.     SllELHURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOE  PEACE.      54;) 

nios  as  one  power.  The  officials  who  drew  the  commission 
for  Oswald  could  not  hut  move  on  the  lines  prescrihed  hy 
parliament,  imd  frame  the  commiKsion  of  the  negotiator  for 
peace  with  shyness,  designathig  tlie  thirteen  "colonies  "  hy 
name,  and  clearly  and  certainly  inviting  their  connnissioners 
as  the  representatives  of  one  self-existent  power  to  treat  for 
peace.  Throughout  the  paper  the  greatest  care  was  taken  not 
to  (piestion  their  independence,  which  hy  plain  implication 
was  taken  for  granted. 

So  soon  as  Shelhurno  saw  a  prospect  of  a  general  pacifica- 
tion, Alk^ne  Fitzherhert,  the  British  minister  at  JJrussels,  was 
transferred  to  Paris,  to  he  the  channel  of  communication  with 
Spain,  France,  and  I  Tolland.  He  hrought  letters  to  Franklin 
from  Lord  (Jrantham  Avho  expressed  his  desire  to  merit  Frank- 
lin's confidence,  and  from  Townshend  who  deckired  himself  the 
zealous  friend  to  jicace  upon  the  fairest  and  most  liheral  tenns. 
While  the  commission  and  instructions  of  Oswald  were 
preparing,  Shelhurno  accepted  the  ultimatum  of  FrankUn  in  all 
its  hranches;  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  he  replied  to  Oswald: 
"Your  several  letters  give  me  the  greatest  satisfaction,  as  they 
contain  unequivocal  })i-oofs  of  Doctor  Franklin's  sincerity  and 
confidence  in  those  wi<h  whom  he  treats.  It  will  he  the  study 
of  his  majesty's  minister^,  to  return  it  hy  every  possihle  cor- 
diality. There  never  have  heen  two  opinions  since  you  were 
sent  to  Paris  upon  the  acknowledgment  of  American  inde- 
pendency. But,  to  piit  '■'  \a  matter  out  of  all  ])ossihility  of 
douht,  a  commission  T-mediately  forwarded  to  you 

containing  full  power  >  independency  of  the  colo- 

nies the  hasis  and  pre  e  treaty  now  depending. 

I  hav-i  never  made  a  set  sp  concern  I  feel  in  the 

separation  of  countries  umtcu  .^  jod,  hy  princij^les,  liahits, 
and  every  tie  short  of  territorial  proximity.  But  I  have  long 
since  given  it  np,  decidedly  though  rehictantly ;  and  the  same 
motives  which  made  me,  perhaps,  the  last  to  give  up  all  hope 
of  reunion  make  me  most  anxious,  if  it  is  given  up,  that  it 
shall  he  done  so  as  to  avoid  all  future  risk  of  enmity  and  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  new  connection,  hettcr  adapted  to  the 
temper  and  interest  of  hoth  countries.  In  this  view  I  go 
further  with  Dr.  Franklin,  perhaps,  than  he  is  aware  of.    I 


r 


'^ 


k 

I  li:. 


1)1' 


550 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.        kp.  v.  :  on.  v- 


is'i' 


f  II 


t.:i 


consider  myself  as  pledged  to  tlij  (.•  intents  of  this  letter.  You 
•will  find  the  ministry  united,  in  full  possession  of  the  king's 
contidonce,  and  thor()U<:;hly  dinposcd  to  p<>iico,  if  it  can  ho 
obtained  ui)on  reasonable  terms." 

The  commission  to  Oswald  confc^rmed  to  the  enablinjr 
act  of  jmrliament.  The  thirteen  "colonies  or  plantations"  in 
!North  America  were  named  one  by  one,  and  a  commissioner 
a])pointed,  with  ])ower,  according  to  the  language  of  the  treaty 
of  alliance  between  Franco  and  America,  to  conclude  "  a  peace 
or  a  truce  "  with  any  connnissioner  named  by  the  said  colonies 
and  plantations.  The  worst  feature  in  the  commission  was 
that  the  British  commissioner,  while  ho  was  empowered  to 
treat  with  the  colonies  collectively,  might  also  treat  with  "  any 
part  or  parts "  of  them.  Every  word  which  could  suggest  a 
denial  of  their  independence  was  avoided,  The  'ing  pledged 
his  name  and  word  to  ratify  and  confinn  whatcv  -r  might  ho 
concluded  between  the  British  and  the  American  commission- 
ers; "our  tamest  wish  for  peace,"  such  were  the  sinmltane- 
ous  instructions  under  the  king's  own  hand,  "  disposing  us  to 
purchase  it  at  the  i)rice  of  acceding  to  the  complete  independ- 
ence of  the  thirteen  states." 

No  British  statesman  was  so  determined  as  Shellmme  to 
bring  about  "  not  merely  peace,  but  reconciliation  with  Amer- 
ica on  the  noblest  terms  and  by  the  noblest  means."  If  the 
benefit  of  his  good-will  is  to  be  seemed,  the  work  must  be  fin- 
ished before  the  next  meeting  of  parliament,  when  his  minis- 
try will  surely  be  overthrown.  Now  is  the  accepted  time; 
the  board  of  trade  no  longer  exists  to  interpose  its  cavils ;  the 
repdy  decision  of  Shelburne  will  give  no  opportunity  for  inter- 
ested people  to  take  alarm.  Let  the  nature  of  the  negotia- 
tions get  abroad,  and  Canada  will  exact  a  southern  access  to 
the  Atlantic ;  the  Hudson  Bay  company  and  the  f ur-traJ(  rs  of 
Canada  ^vill  clamor  for  keeping  Oswego  and  Niagara;  and 
Detroit  and  Chicago,  and  with  them  the  best  avenues  to  the 
North-west,  the  West,  and  the  South-west,  will  certainly  be 
withheld.  How,  tlen,  can  a  patriotic  American  coiumissioner 
place  needless  embarrassments  in  Shelburne's  way  ? 

An  advanced  copy  of  the  commission  reached  Oswald  on 
the  evening  of  the  sixth  of  August.     Early  the  next  morning 


1782.     SIIELHURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PtACE.      551 

ho  carried  a  copy  of  it  to  Franklin  at  Pa£.-_*  .  ranklln,  glad 
to  the  heart,  repeatod  what  ho  had  wiid  i'  Juno ;  "  I  h'jpo  wo 
shall  agriio,  aTid  not  bo  long  al»out  it."  He  rel.ited  that  the 
day  before  at  Venailles,  Vergennes  had  expressed  inipatieneo 
for  its  arrival,  that  his  own  negotiations  with  Fitzhiorbert  might 
go  on  hand  in  hand  with  those  of  the  Amerieanb  and  Oswald. 

"Returning  to  Paris,  Oswald  showed  tlie  comniis-non  to  Jay, 
whom  he  descril)cs  as  "a  sensible  man  of  plain  yet  civil  man- 
ners, and  of  a  calm,  obliging  temper."  Jay  said  :  "  That  in- 
dopoTidencc  ought  to  be  no  part  of  a  treaty ;  it  ought  to  have 
been  expressly  grunted  by  act  of  parliament.  As  that  was  not 
done,  the  king  ought  to  do  it  now  by  proclamation,  and  orde** 
all  garrisons  to  be  evacuated,  and  then  close  the  American  war 
by  a  treaty."  Ilo  surjnisscd  Franklin  in  enlarging  on  the  obli- 
gations and  the  gratitude  duo  from  the  Liuited  States  to 
France.  England,  he  said,  "  must  not  expect  to  get  back  all 
the  conquests  which  the  French  have  made  during  the  war." 
They  of  America  "must  fulfil  the'>.  ti  jaty ;  they  are  a  young 
republic  just  come  into  the  worlJ,  and  if  they  forfeit  their 
character  at  the  first  outset  they  will  never  be  trusted  again, 
and  should  become  a  proverb  amongst  mankind."  Oswald's 
''  great  expectations  from  his  conversation  with  Franklin  were 
dauiped  by  t^     unpleasant  reception  from  Jay."  * 

The  advanced  copy  of  Oswald's  com.nission  Franklin  sub- 
mitted to  Vergennes.  "I  vv'ill  examine  it  with  the  grea-^est  at- 
tention," ho  Avrote  in  answer.  From  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
alliance  between  France  and  America,  he  was  bound  to  form, 
and  had  a  right  to  express,  an  opinion,  and  was  most  anxious 
that  nothing  might  delay  an  early  peace.  Holding  a  confer- 
ence with  them  on  the  tenth  of  August,  he  declared  to  them 
his  opinion  that  they  might  proceed  to  treat  -with  Oswald 
under  the  commission  as  soon  as  the  original  should  arrive. 
Jay  replied :  "  It  would  be  descending  from  the  ground  of  in- 
dependence to  treat  under  the  descrip^^'on  of  colonies."  Ver- 
gennes pemsted  in  the  opinion  that  the  powers  given  to  Os- 
wald were  sufficient,  saying  correctly :  "  This  acceptance  of 
your  powers,  in  which  you  are  styltd  commissioners  from  the 

*  Oswald's  Minutes  of    Conversatioa  with  the  American  Commissioners,  1 
August  1782.    MS. 


I 

ill  I 


f 


^}\ 


I' 


iifi,; 


5.-2 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTIOX. 


EP.  V.  ;  CH.  VI. 


!!  .J. 


'  If 

'-1 

I 

"i. '': 

jl';; 

Ml 


IJnited  States  of  America,  will  be  a  tacit  confession  of  your 
indepeiKk'uce."  Franklin,  wlio  liad  made  a  careful  study  of 
the  subject,  had  no  doubt  that  the  commission  "  would  do." 
John  Adams,  the  head  of  the  commission,  in  July  of  the 
preceding  year,  after  reflecting  on  the  question,  had  sent  to  the 
American  congress  his  opinion:  "I  see  nothing  inconsistent 
with  the  charti'.ter  or  dignity  of  the  United  States  in  their 
minister  entering  into  treaty  with  a  British  minister  without 
aay  explicit  aekno^vledgment  of  our  independence  before  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty."  * 

To  Franklin,  Jay,  blinded  by  suspicion,  made  the  remark  : 
"The  count  does  not  wish  to  see  our  independence  acknowl- 
edged by  Britain  until  they  have  made  all  their  uses  of  us." 
If  this  had  been  true,  Jay  should  have  taken  the  surest  and 
the  shortest  way  of  defeating  the  plan  by  proceeding  at  once 
to  frame  the  treaty  of  peace  with  England ;  and  he  himself 
writes  that  such  a  treaty  could  have  been  finished  "  in  a  few 
hours."     By  refusing  to  do  so,  he  himself  was  carrying  into 
effect  the  ill  design  which  he  imputed  to  Yergennes.     The 
enabling  act  of  parliament  avowed  peace  for  its  object.     The 
king  could  find  no  consolation  for  consenting  to  the  dismem- 
berment of  the  empire  but  peace;   if  war  was  to  continue, 
Britain  could  have  no  motive  to  publish  to  neutral  nations 
that  the  United  States  Avaged  war  as  an  iude^iendent  power. 
America  had  gone  to  war,  first  for  its  rights  and  then  for  in- 
dependence ;  at  the  same  moment  with  independence  it  needed 
and  sighed  for  peace.     Jay's  commission  gave  him  no  ofiice 
but  to  mak^  peace.   But  he  said  :  "  The  commission  calls  us  colo- 
nies."    lie  would  have  no  "  half-way  "  mode  of  acknowledg- 
ing American  "  independence."  f     lie  would  not  treat  at  all 
until  the  independence  of  the  United  States  had  been  irrevoc- 
ably acknowledged.     He  cited  the  case  of  the  Netherlands  as 
having  refused  to  enter  into  any  treaty  until  they  were  declared 
free  states ;  but  he  was  wrong  in  his  allegation.    He  insinuated 
that  delay  on  the  i)art  of  the  English  would  justify  suspicion 
of  their  designs.     Ceasing  to  insist  on  independence  by  an  act 

*  John  Adams  to  the  Preiident  of  Congress,  16  July  1781.    Works  of  John 
Adam?,  vii.,  110. 

t  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  viii.,  120,  128,  130,  136,  138,  UO,  117. 


1782.      SnELBUENE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      553 


of  piirliameut  or  a  royal  proclamation,  Le  next  proposed  that 
the  king  sLould  make  a  cei-tiiication  of  independence  by  a 
separate  deed  or  patent  under  tlie  great  seal ;  but  at  last  con- 
sented to  be  satistied  if  it  should  find  its  place  in  a  separate 
preliminary  covenant,  to  "  be  ratified  or  declared  as  absolutely 
and  irrevocably  acknowledged  and  unconditioned  by  tlio  event 
of  other  or  subsequent  articles."  * 

Franklin  saw  with  dismay  that  the  saiuls  of  Shelburne's 
oflicial  life  were  fast  running  out,  and  that  with  his  removal 
the  only  chance  of  the  favorable  peace  now  so  nearly  concluded 
would  be  lost. 

Oswald,  in  a  letter  to  Shelbume,  bore  this  just  and  noble 
witness  to  Franklin :  "  Considering  how  long  he  has  lived  here, 
and  how  he  has  been  caressed,  it  must  require  a  great  share  of 
resolution  not  to  feel  the  effects  of  it  even  in  matters  of  busi- 
ness ;  yet  upon  the  whole  I  nmst  still  say  I  have  neither  seen 
nor  heard  of  anything  that  can  make  me  doubt  of  liis  sincerity 
nor  of  his  attachment  to  his  friends,"  meaning  by  those  friends 
Lord  Shelburne  and  his  ministry.! 

Unable  to  prevent  the  nuschief  of  delay,  Franklin  was 
vigilant  in  observing  and  prompt  in  counteracting  evil  influ- 
ences as  promptly  as  they  arose.  On  the  twelfth  of  August 
1782  he  wrote  to  Secretary  Livingston :  "  My  conjecture  of 
the  design  of  Spain  to  coop  us  up  within  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains is  now  manifested.  I  hope  congress  will  insist  on  the 
Mississippi  as  the  boundary,  and  the  free  navigation  of  the 
river."  ;{:  But  he  could  not  dissuade  his  colleague  from  arrest- 
ing the  negotiation  for  peace,  and  exposing  its  ultimate  success 
to  the  greatest  and  most  imminent  hazard. 

The  delay  prolonged  the  sorrows  of  America.  British 
partisans,  under  leaders  selected  from  the  most  l)riital  of  man- 
kind, were  scouring  the  interior  of  the  southern  country, 
robbing,  destroying,  and  taking  life  at  their  pleasure.  "  On 
the  twelfth  of  March,"  writes  David  Fanning,  the  ruffian 
leader  of  one  of  these  bands,  "my  men,  being  all  properly 
ecpiipped,  assembled  together  to  give  the  rebels  a  small  scourge, 

*  Oswald  to  Socrotixry  Townshend,  17  August  1782. 

f  Oswald  to  Slu'lljiinio.     8th  Sei)teinl)cr  1782.     Lansdowno  irouse  MSS, 

$  Diijlomatic  Corrcspoudciicc,  iii.,  11)7. 


J.    - 


i     -  I 


u 


!l 


654 


THE  AMERICAN  EEVOLUTION.        ep.  v.  ;  ch.  vi. 


I  fill 

Id!  I 


m 


wlucli  we  set  out  for."  They  came  upon  the  plantation  of 
Andrew  Balfour  of  Randolpli  county,  wlio  Lad  been  a  member 
of  the  Xorth  CaroHna  assembly,  and  held  a  conuuission  in  the 
militia.  Ih-eaking  into  his  house,  tliey  fired  at  liim  in  the 
presence  of  his  sister  and  daughter,  the  first  ball  passmg  tlu-ough 
his  body,  the  second  through  his  neck.  They  "  biu-ned  sev- 
eral rebel  houses  "  on  their  way  to  the  abode  of  another  militia 
officer,  who  received  three  balls  through  his  shirt,  and  yet  made 
his  escape.  Tliey  destroyed  the  whole  of  his  plantation.  Eeach- 
ing  the  house  of  "  another  rebel  ofliccr,"  "  I  told  him,"  writes 
Fanning,  "  if  he  would  come  out  of  the  house  I  would  give  him 
parole,  which  he  refused.  With  that  I  ordered  the  house  to 
be  Set  on  fire.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the  flames  increasing  he 
called  out  to  mo  to  spare  his  house  for  his  wife's  and  chil. 
dren's  sake,  and  he  would  walk  out  with  his  arms  in  his  hands. 
I  answered  him  that,  if  he  would  walk  out,  his  house  should 
be  spared  for  his  wife  and  children.  When  he  came  out  he 
said :  '  Here  I  am ; '  with  that  he  received  two  balls  through 
his  body.  I  proceeded  on  to  one  Major  Dugin's  plantation, 
and  I  destroyed  all  his  property,  and  all  the  rebel  oiHcers' 
property  in  the  settlement  foi-  the  distance  of  forty  miles.  On 
our  way  I  catched  a  commissary  from  Salisbury  and  delivered 
him  up  to  some  of  my  men  whom  he  had  treated  ill  when 
prisoners,  and  they  immediately  hung  him.  On  the  eighteenth 
of  April  I  set  out  for  Chatham,  where  I  learned  that  a  wed- 
ding was  to  be  that  day.  We  surrounded  the  house  and  drove 
all  out  one  by  one.  I  found  one  concealed  upstairs.  Having 
my  pistols  in  my  hand,  I  discharged  them  both  at  his  breast ; 
he  fell,  and  that  night  expired."  *  Yec  this  Fanning  held  a 
British  commission  as  colonel  of  the  loyal  militia  in  Randolph 
and  Chatham  counties,  with  authority  to  grant  connnissions  to 
othei's  as  captains  and  subalterns ;  and,  after  the  war,  was  rec- 
ommended l)y  the  office  of  American  claims  as  a  proper  person 
to  be  put  \x\xn\  the  half-pay  list. 

At  the  iS^orth,  within  the  immediate  precincts  of  the  au- 
thority of  Chnton,  Colonel  James  Delancy,  of  West  Chester, 
caused  three  "  rebels  "  to  be  publicly  executed  within  the  Brit- 
ish lines,  in  retaliation  for  the  pretended  murder  of  some  of 

*  The  authority  is  Fiiuniiig's  own  Journal 


1782.     SIIELBUKNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      555 


the  refugees.  In  New  York,  on  the  eighth  of  April,  the  direct- 
ors of  the  associated  loyalists  ordered  Lieutenant  Joshua  Ilud- 
dy,  a  prisoner  of  war  in  New  York,  to  be  deliveied  to  Captain 
Lippincot,  and,  under  the  pretext  of  an  exchange,  taken  into 
New  Jersey,  where  he  was  hanged  by  a  party  of  loyalists  on 
the  heights  of  Middleton,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  a  loyalist 
prisoner  who  had  been  shot  as  he  was  attempting  to  escape. 
Congress  and  Washington  demanded  the  delivery  of  Lippincot 
as  a  murderer.  Clinton  refused  the  r<  aisition,  but  subjected 
him  to  a  court-martial,  which  condemned  the  deed  but  found 
in  the  orders  under  which  he  acted  a  loop-hole  for  his  acquit- 
tal. Congress  threatened  retaliation  on  a  British  officer,  never 
intending  to  execute  the  threat. 

The  spirit  of  humanity  governed  the  conduct  of  the  Brit- 
ish as  soon  as  Shelburnc  became  minister.  Those  who  had 
been  imprisoned  in  England  for  treason  were  from  that  time 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war.  Some  of  the  ministers  took  part 
in  relieving  their  distresses ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer 
six  hundred  of  them  or  more  were  sent  to  America  for  ex- 
change. Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who,  on  the  fifth  of  May  1Y82, 
superceded  Sir  Henry  Clinton  as  conmiander-in-chief,  desired 
an  end  to  hostilities  of  every  kind,  treated  all  ca])tives  with 
gentleness;  and  set  some  of  them  free.  "VVhen  AVashington 
asked  that  the  Carolinians  who  had  been  exiled  in  violation 
of  the  capitulation  of  (Charleston  might  have  leave  to  return 
to  their  native  state  under  a  flag  of  truce,  Carleton  answered 
that  they  should  be  sent  back  at  the  cost  of  the  king  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  that  everything  should  be  done  to  make  them 
forget  the  hardships  which  they  had  endured.  Two  hundred 
Iroquois,  two  hundred  Ottawas,  and  seventy  Chippewas  came 
in  the  sunnner  to  St.  John's  on  the  Chambly,  ready  to  inake  a 
raid  into  the  state  of  New  York.  They  were  told  from  Carle- 
ton to  bury  their  hatchets  and  their  tomahawks. 

In  Georgia,  Wayne  drove  the  British  from  post  after  post 
and  redoubt  after  redoubt,  until  they  were  completely  shut  up 
in  Savannah.  In  the  rest  of  the  state,  its  own  civil  govern- 
ment was  restored.  On  the  eleventh  of  July,  Savannah  was 
evacuated,  the  loyalists  retreating  into  Florida,  the  regulars  to 

leston :  and  Wavne.  with  his  small  but  trustworthy  corps, 


'1 


i' 


:  im 


m ! 


VOL.  v.— 37 


ay; 


556 


THE    AMEPwICAN   REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V.  :  OH.  VI 


>\:!', 


-Jf 


L 


joined  Greene  in  South  Carolina.  His  Buccesscs  had  been 
gained  by  troops  who  had  neither  regular  food  nor  clothing 
nor  pay. 

In  conformity  to  writs  issued  by  Kutledge  as  goreraor,  the 
assembly  of  South  Carolina  met  in  January  at  Jacksonbor- 
ongh  on  the  Edisto.  The  assassinations  and  ravages  committed 
under  the  authority  of  Lord  George  Germain  never  once  led 
Greene,  or  Wayne,  or  Marion,  or  any  other  in  high  command, 
to  injure  the  property  or  take  the  life  of  a  loyalist,  except  in 
battle.  Against  the  advice  of  Gadsden,  who  insisted  that  it 
was  sound  policy  to  forget  and  forgive,  laws  were  enacted  ban- 
ishing the  active  friends  of  the  British  government  and  confis- 
cating their  estates. 

The  summer  of  1782  went  by  with  no  military  events  be- 
yond skirmishes.  In  repelling  with  an  inferior  force  a  party 
of  the  British  sent  to  Combahee  ferry  to  collect  provisions, 
Laurens,  then  but  twenty-seven  years  old,  received  a  mortal 
woimd.  "lie  had  not  a  fault  that  I  could  discover,"  said 
"Washington,  "  unless  it  were  intrepidity  bordering  upon  rash- 
ness." Near  the  end  of  the  year,  Wilmot,  a  worthy  officer  of 
the  Maryland  line,  was  killed  in  an  enterprise  against  James 
Island.     He  was  the  last  who  fell  in  the  war. 

A  vehement  impulse  toward  "  the  consolidation  of  the  fed- 
eral union"  waf  given  by  Robert  Morris,  the  finance  minister 
of  the  confederation ;  but  he  connected  the  refonn  of  the  con- 
federation with  boldly  speculative  financial  theories.  A  native 
of  England,  he  never  gained  the  sympathy  or  approbation  of 
the  American  people.  In  May  1781,  by  highly  colored  prom- 
ises of  a  better  administration  of  the  national  finances  and  by 
appeals  to  patriotism,  he  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  scruples 
of  congress,  and  obtained  from  it  a  charter  for  a  national  bank, 
of  which  the  notes,  payable  on  demand,  should  be  receivable 
as  specie  for  duties  and  taxes,  and  in  payment  of  dues  from  the 
respective  states.  The  charter  was  granted  by  the  votes  of 
New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Virginia  with  Madi- 
son dissenting,  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia — seven 
states;  from  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  single  delegates 
answered  "ay,"  Pennsylvania  was  equally  divided;  Massa 
chusetts  alone  voted  against  the  measure. 


1782.     SHELBURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      557 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  the  opinion  prevailed  that  the 
articles  of  confederation  contained  no  power  to  incorporate  a 
banlc ;  but  congress  had  pledged  its  word.  As  a  compromise, 
the  corporation  was  forbidden  to  exercise  any  powers  in  any  of 
the  United  States  re])ugnant  to  tlie  laws  or  constitution  of  such 
state ;  and  it  was  recommended  to  the  several  states  to  give  to 
the  incorporating  ordinance  its  full  operation.  These  requisi- 
tions Madison  regarded  as  an  admission  of  the  defect  of  power, 
and  an  antidote  against  the  poisonous  tendency  of  precedents 
of  usurpation.  The  capital  of  the  bank  was  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  of  which  Morris  took  one  half  as  an  in- 
vestment of  the  United  States,  paying  for  it  in  full  with 
money,  which  was  due  to  the  army.  On  the  seventh  of  Janu- 
ary 1782  the  bank  commenced  its  very  lucrative  business.  Its 
notes,  though  payable  at  Philadelphia  in  specie,  did  not  com- 
mand public  confidence  at  a  distance,  and  the  corporation  was 
able  to  buy  up  its  ovm  promises  at  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent 
discount. 

His  first  measure  having  been  carried,  he  threw  his  rough 
energy  into  the  design  of  initiating  a  strong  central  government. 
He  e  igaged  the  services  of  Thomas  Paine  to  recommend  to  the 
people  a  new  confederation  with  competent  powers.  To  the 
president  of  congress  he  wrote :  "  I  disclaim  a  delicacy  which 
influences  some  minds  to  treat  the  states  with  tenderness  and 
even  adulation,  while  they  are  in  tha  habitual  inattention  to 
the  calls  of  national  interest  and  honor ;  nor  wdll  I  be  deterred 
from  waking  those  who  slumber  on  the  brink  of  ruin.  Sup- 
ported by  the  voice  of  the  United  States  in  congress,  I  may 
perhaps  do  something ;  without  that  support,  I  must  be  a  use- 
less incumbrance." 

To  fund  the  public  debt  and  provide  for  the  regular  pay- 
ment of  the  iuterebt  on  it,  ho  proposed  a  very  moderate  land- 
tax,  a  poll-tax,  and  an  excise  on  distilled  liquors.  Each  of 
these  taxes  was  estimated  to  produce  half  a  million ;  a  duty  of 
five  per  cent  on  imports  would  produce  a  million  more.  The 
back  lands  were  to  be  reserved  as  security  for  new  loans  in 
Europe. 

The  expenditures  of  the  United  States  for  the  war  had 
been  at  the  rate  of  twenty  millions  of  dollars  in  specie  an- 


il ( 


n 


;i 


! 


558 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


KP.  V. ;  on.  VI. 


i\ 


I 


If 


(I 
II 


I       f^ 


nually.  The  estimates  for  the  year  1782  were  for  eight  mill- 
ions of  dollars.  Yet,  in  the  first  five  months  of  the  year,  the 
sums  received  amounted  to  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
which  were  but  the  estimated  expenses  for  a  single  day ;  and 
of  this  sura  not  a  shilling  had  been  received  from  the  East  or 
the  South.  A  vehement  circular  of  Morris  to  the  states  was 
suppressed  by  the  advice  of  Madison,  and  one  congressional 
committee  was  sent  to  importune  the  states  of  the  North,  an- 
other those  of  the  South. 

An  aged  officer  of  the  army,  colonel  in  rank,  unheard  of 
in  action,  Nicola  by  name,  not  an  American  by  birth,  clung 
obstinately  to  the  oi)inion  that  republics  arc  unstable,  and  that 
a  mixed  government,  of  which  the  head  might  bear  the  title 
of  king,  would  be  best  able  to  extricate  the  United  States  from 
their  embarrassments.  In  a  private  letter  to  Washington, 
written,  so  far  as  appears,  without  concert  with  any  one,  he 
set  forth  his  views  in  favor  of  monarchy,  with  an  intimation 
that,  after  discussion,  it  would  be  readily  adopted  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  that  he  who  had  so  gloriously  conducted  the  war 
should  conduct  the  country  "  in  the  smoother  paths  of  peace." 

To  this  communication  Washington,  on  the  twenty-second 
of  May,  replied :  "  No  occurrence  in  the  c.arse  of  the  war  has 
given  me  more  painful  sensations  than  your  information  of 
there  being  such  ideas  existing  in  the  army  as  you  have  ex- 
pressed, and  I  must  view  %vitli  abhorrence  and  reprehend  with 
severity.  If  I  am  not  deceived  in  the  knowledge  of  myself, 
you  could  not  have  found  a  person  to  whom  your  schemes  are 
more  disagreeable.  Let  me  conjure  you,  then,  if  you  have  any 
regard  for  your  country,  concern  for  yourself  or  posterity,  or 
respect  for  me,  to  banish  these  thoughts  from  your  mind,  and 
never  communicate,  as  from  yourself  or  any  one  else,  a  senti- 
ment of  the  like  nature." 

The  confederation  acted  only  on  the  states,  and  not  on  per- 
sons ;  yet  Morris  obtained  from  congress  authority  to  appoint 
receivers  of  the  revenues  of  the  United  States.  From  the 
siege  of  Yorktown,  Hamilton  had  repaired  to  Albany  for  the 
study  of  the  law,  that  in  summer  he  might  be  received  as 
attorney,  in  autumn  as  counsellor,  yet  ready,  if  the  war  should 
be  renewed,  to  take  part  in  its  dangers  and  its  honors.     Him 


1 


1782.     SIIELBURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      559 

Morris  appointed  collector  of  the  revenue  for  tlie  district  of 
the  state  of  New  York.  The  office,  which  he  accepted  with 
hesitation,  was  almost  a  sinecure ;  but  he  was  instructed  by 
Morris  to  exert  his  talents  with  the  New  York  legislature 
to  forwai'd  the  views  of  congress.  lie  had  meditated  on  the 
facility  with  which  the  eastern  states  had  met  in  convention 
to  deliberate  jointly  on  the  best  methods  of  supporting  the 
war.^  On  the  next  meeting  of  the  New  York  legislature  he 
repaired  to  Poughkeepsie  and  explained  his  views  on  the  only 
system  by  which  the  United  States  could  obtain  a  constitution. 
On  the  nineteentli  of  July,  Schuyler,  his  father-in-law,  in- 
vited the  senate  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the 
nation.  The  committee  into  which  that  body  at  once  re- 
solved itself  reported,  "that  the  radical  source  of  most  of 
the  public  embarrassments  Avas  the  want  of  sufficient  power 
in  congress  to  effectuate  the  ready  and  perfect  co-operation  of 
the  states ;  that  the  powers  of  government  ought  without  loss 
of  time  to  be  extended ;  that  the  general  government  ought 
to  have  power  to  provide  revenue  for  itself  "  ;  and  it  was  de- 
clared "  that  the  foregoing  important  ends  can  never  be  at- 
tained by  deliberations  of  the  states  separately;  but  that  it 
is  essential  to  the  common  welfare  that  there  should  be  as  soon 
as  possible  a  conference  of  the  whole  on  the  subject;  and 
that  it  would  be  advisable  for  this  puq^ose  to  propose  to  con- 
gress to  recommend,  and  to  each  state  to  adopt,  the  measure 
of  assembling  a  general  convention  of  the  states,  specially 
authorized  to  revise  and  amend  the  confederation,  reserving  a 
right  to  the  respective  legislatures  to  ratify  their  determina- 
tions." 

These  resolutions,  offered  by  Schuyler  in  the  senate,  were 
accepted  unanimously  by  each  branch  of  the  legislature ;  and 
Hamilton  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  congress  of  the  United 
States.  Robert  Morris  saw  the  transcendent  importance  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  New  York  legislature,  and  welcomed 
the  young  statesman  to  his  new  career,  saying :  "  A  firm,  wise, 
manly  system  of  federal  government  is  what  I  once  wished, 
what  I  now  hope,  what  I  dare  not  expect,  but  what  I  will  not 
despair  of."  Under  these  ;nispices  Hainilton  of  New  York 
became  the  colleague  in  congress  of  Madison  of  Virginia. 


* 


VI 


m 


6G0 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       Er.v.;on.vr. 


Si; 


kl    ■'• 


On  the  laHt  day  of  July,  Morris  sent  to  congress  his  budget 
for  1783,  amounting  at  the  least  to  .  '-le  millions  of  dollars ; 
and  he  could  think  of  no  way  to  obtain  this  sum  but  by  bor- 
rowing four  millions  and  raising  five  millions  by  quotas.  The 
best  hopes  of  supporting  the  public  credit  lay  in  the  proposal 
to  endow  congress  with  the  right  to  levy  a  duty  of  live  per 
cent  on  imports. 

The  request  of  congress,  made  in  Febniary  1781,  to  the 
states  for  this  power,  encountered  hostility  in  Massachusetts. 
In  a  letter  from  its  general  court  to  congress  complaint  was 
made  that  the  state  was  called  upon  for  more  than  its  proper 
share  of  contributions  ;  that  the  duty  on  imports  would  be  an 
unequal  burden  ;  that  the  proposition  could  not  be  acceded  to 
unless  the  produce  of  the  tax  should  be  passed  to  the  special 
credit  of  the  commonwealth.  Congress  in  its  reply  brought 
to  mind  that  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  already  exceeded 
a  million  of  dollars ;  that  Massachusetts  enjoyed  the  pecuhar 
blessing  of  groat  commercial  advantages  denied  by  the  fortune 
of  common  war  to  their  less  happy  sister  states ;  that  duties 
levied  on  imports  are  paid  by  the  consumer,  and  caght  not  to 
be  retained  by  the  state  which  has  the  benefit  of  the  importa- 
tion ;  and  it  strongly  urged  a  comjiliance  with  the  proposition 
in  question,  as  just  and  expedient,  impartial  and  easy  of  execu- 
tion, and  alone  offering  a  pi-ospect  of  redressing  the  just  com- 
plaints of  the  public  creditors.  After  delays  of  more  than  a 
year,  on  the  fourth  of  May  1782  the  general  court  gave  way 
by  a  majority  of  two  in  the  house  and  of  one  in  the  senate. 
The  exemption  from  duty  of  "  wool-cards,  cotton-cai-ds,  and 
wire  for  making  them,"  shows  the  wish  of  congress  to  foster 
incipient  manufactures.  The  act  reserved  to  the  general  court 
the  electio.!  of  the  collectors  of  the  revenue,  which  it  appro- 
priated exclusively  to  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the  United 
States,  contracted  or  to  be  contracted  during  the  existing  war. 
"With  their  payment  it  was  to  expire.  Even  this  meagre  con- 
cession received  the  veto  of  Hancock,  the  governor,  though 
it  was  given  one  day  too  late  to  be  of  force. 

As  the  federal  articles  required  the  unanimous  assent  of 
the  states  for  the  adoption  of  an  amendment,  the  negative  of 
Rhode  Island  seemed  still  to  throw  in  the  way  of  a  good  gov- 


1782.     SIIELBURNE  STRIVES  SINCERELY  FOR  PEACE.      561 


eminent  liindrances  wLich  could  not  be  overcome.  Yet  union 
was  rooted  iu  the  lieart  of  the  Aniericau  people.  The  device  for 
its  great  seal,  adopted  by  congress  iu  the  midsummer  of  1781,  is 
the  American  eagle,  as  the  emblem  of  strength  which  uses  vic- 
tory only  for  peace.  It  holds  in  its  right  talon  tl lo  olive-branch ; 
with  the  left  it  clasps  thirteen  arrows,  emblems  of  the  thirteen 
states.  On  an  azure  Held  over  the  head  of  the  eagle  appears 
a  constellation  of  thirteen  stars  breaking  gloriously  through  a 
cloud.  In  the  eagle's  beak  is  the  scroll,  "E  plm-ibus  unum," 
many  and  one,  out  of  diversity  unity,  freedom  of  each  individ- 
ual state  and  unity  of  all  the  stiites,  as  the  expression  of  con- 
scious nationality,  the  two  ideas  that  make  America  great.  By 
further  emblems  congress  showed  its  faith  that  the  unfinished 
commonwealth,  standing  upon  the  broadest  foundation,  would 
be  built  up  iu  strength,  that  heaven  approved  what  had  been 
undertaken,  that  "  a  new  line  of  ages  "  was  begun. 

The  condition  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  was 
deplorable.  Of  the  quotas  for  which  requisitions  had  been 
made  on  the  states,  only  four  hundred  and  twenty-two  thou- 
sand dollars  were  collected.  Delaware  and  the  three  southern- 
most states  paid  nothing.  Rhode  Island,  which  paid  thirty- 
eight  thousand  dollars,  or  a  little  more  than  a  sixth  of  its  quota, 
was  proportionately  the  largest  contributor.  Only  by  the  pay- 
ment of  usurious  rates  was  the  army  rescued  from  being 
starved  or  disbanded.  "  Their  patriotism  and  distress,"  wrote 
Washington  in  October,  "  have  scarcely  ever  been  paralleled, 
never  been  surpassed.  Their  long-sufEerance  is  almost  ex- 
hausted ;  it  is  high  time  for  ?  peace." 


.*  I 


.  >; 


I  !l 


■i! 


V.    u 


m 


I 


662 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


Ef .  V. :  on.  vn. 


CHAPTER  yil. 


r 


>  !  '* 


\n\ 


PEACE  BETWEEN    THE   UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA    AND   GREAT 

BRITAIN. 

From  September  first  to  the  end  of  November  1782. 

France  needed  peace ;  Yergennes  and  his  king  strove  to 
hasten  it.  The  French  navy  was  decHniug ;  the  peasantry 
were  crushed  by  their  burdens ;  no  one  saw  a  way  to  meet  the 
cost  of  another  campaign.  In  Paris  the  fashionable  language 
was,  that  France  had  been  the  dupe  of  her  allies,  the  Ameri- 
cans and  the  Spaniards.* 

The  French  minister  pursued  peace  through  the  compli- 
cated difficulties  created  by  the  conflicting  interests  of  the 
four  powers  which  were  at  war  with  England ;  and  he  saw  no 
way  to  success  except  their  pretensions  could  be  brought  into 
harmony  by  his  controlling  advice. 

The  family  alliance  of  the  Bourbons  bound  the  king  of 
France  most  closely  to  the  king  of  Spain  by  a  permanent  fed- 
eration. Spaiush  interests  France  had  pledged  itself  to  treat 
as  its  own ;  and  Spain,  at  the  cost  of  Frrnce,  impeded  peace  by 
the  extravagance  of  her  demands. 

The  Ketherlands  consented  for  the  time  to  lean  on  France, 
but  neither  France  nor  Holland  could  look  forward  to  a  long 
continuance  of  their  connection. 

Between  France  and  the  United  States  the  mutual  obliga- 
tions by  treaty,  so  far  as  they  related  to  the  continuance  of  the 
war,  would  end  when  Great  Britain  should  acknowledge,  or  at 
least  acquiesce  in,  their  independence. 

It  was  the  passion  of  Spain  to  include  within  her  dominions 

*  Fitzherbert  to  Lord  Grantham,  3  October  1782. 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  5G3 

every  part  of  tlie  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  both  banks  of  the  ^Mis- 
eissippi.  To  that  end  slie  needed  at  tlie  peace  to  regain  West 
Florida,  and  to  throw  back  the  United  States  to  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Alleghauies.  The  French  officials  secretly  laughed 
at  her  attempt  to  resist  the  advance  of  the  United  States  to 
the  Mississippi ;  but  France,  without  disguise,  seconded  her 
demands. 

It  was  not  the  wish  of  Yergennes  that  the  repiiblic  which 
he  fostered  should  become  a  formidable  power ;  he  was  willing 
to  nurse  a  rivalry  between  the  British  in  America  and  the 
United  States,  and  his  secretary  did  not  scruple  to  point  out 
to  Lord  Shelburne  where  proofs  might  be  found  that  Canada 
of  old  included  Oswego  and  Niagara  and  all  the  country  on 
the  south  to  the  sununit  level  from  which  the  waters  llov/  to 
the  great  lakes.  Beyond  the  Alleghanies,  he  desired  thai;  all 
which  was  claimed  by  the  United  States  to  the  west  and  north- 
west of  Pittsburg  should  remain  with  Great  Britain.  But  well 
as  it  suited  his  policy  to  encourage  Great  Britain  in  curbing 
the  aspirations  of  the  United  States,  he  would  rather  see  them 
succeed  in  all  their  objects  than  risk  delay  in  ending  the  war. 

In  England  peace  was  desired  by  the  king  and  his  minis- 
try, by  every  class  of  politicians,  by  the  merchants,  the  manu- 
facturers, and  the  landholders.  A  ministry  Vvdiich  can  lay  be- 
fore parliament  a  good  settlement  wdth  all  the  enemies  of  Eng- 
land may  hope  for  the  support  of  a  safe  majority.  A  meeting 
of  the  whole  cabinet  gave  a  careful  consideration  to  the  atti- 
tude of  Jay ;  and  by  their  direction,  on  the  first  of  September 
1782,  Thomas  Townshend,  the  secretary  of  state,  wdio  con- 
ducted the  negotiations  with  America,  wrote  to  Oswald : 

"  In  order  to  give  the  most  unequivocal  proof  of  the  king's 
earnest  wish  to  remove  every  impediment  to  a  speedy  termi- 
nation of  the  calamities  of  war,  I  am  commanded  to  signify 
to  you  his  majesty's  disposition  to  agree  to  the  plan  of  pacifi- 
cation proposed  by  Doctor  Franklin  himself,  including  as  it 
does  independence,  full  and  complete  in  every  sense,  as  part 
of  the  first  article  ;  a  settlement  of  the  boundaries ;  a  confine- 
ment of  the  boundaries  of  Canada  at  least  to  what  they  were 
before  the  act  of  parliament  of  1774,  if  not  to  a  still  more 
contracted  state  on  an  ancient  footing ;  a  freedom  of  fishing 


'I: 


I 


'^1 


504 


THE  A^rERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  on.  VII. 


1 


on  tlic  banks  of  Newfoundland  and  clsuwlicre,  tlio  privilogo 
of  drying  not  being  inchidcd.  His  inajcfity  ha«  uiilhorized  you 
to  go  to  the  full  extent  of "  these  articles.  ''His  majoKtv  ifi 
also  plea.sed,  for  the  salutary  jMirposes  of  ])rechuling  nil  further 
(k'lay  or  enibarras.snient  of  negotiution,  to  waive  any  stipulation 
by  the  treaty  for  the  undoubted  rights  of  the  merchants  whose 
debts  accrued  before  the  year  1775,  and  also  for  the  claims  of 
the  refugees  for  compensation  for  their  losses,  as  Doctor  Frank- 
lin declares  himself  unauthorized  to  conclude  upon  that  sub- 
ject. 

"  E  jt  if,  after  having  pressed  this  plan  of  treaty,  you  should 
lind  the  American  commissioners  determined  not  to  proceed 
unh)ss  the  independence  bo  irrevocably  acknowletlged  without 
reference  to  the  final  settlement  of  the  rest  of  the  treaty,  j'ou 
are  then,  but  in  the  very  last  resort,  to  inform  them  his  majes- 
ty is  'willing,  without  waiting  for  the  other  branches  of  the 
negotiation,  to  recommend  to  his  parliament  to  enable  him 
forthwith  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  thirteen 
united  colonies  absolutely  and  irrevocably,  and  not  depending 
upon  the  event  of  any  other  part  of  the  treaty."  * 

On  the  third  of  September,  the  day  on  which  this  dispatch 
was  received,  Oswald  visited  Franklin  and  took  a  letter  from 
him  to  Jay,  wnth  whoi  i  he  held  an  interview  on  that  very 
evening.  Jay,  who  was  not  familiar  with  the  state  of  parties 
in  England,  nor  aware  how  far  he  was  imperilling  the  one  safe 
moment  for  perfect  success  in  the  negotiation  with  England, 
nor  kee])ing  in  mind  that  lie  was  commissioned  only  to  make 
peace,  still  refused  to  "  proceed  unless  independence  was  pre- 
viously so  acknowledged  as  to  be  entirely  distinct  and  uncon- 
nected with  treaty."  Oswald  explained  to  him  that,  if  he  per- 
sisted in  the  demand,  there  could  be  nothing  done  nntil  the 
meeting  of  parliament,  and  perhaps  for  some  considerable  time 
thereafter ;  but  Jay  would  not  accept  the  ample  oiler  of  all 
that  the  United  States  asked  for,  and  so  forfeited  the  consent 
of  Britain  to  dispense  with  a  stipulation  by  treaty  in  favor  of 
the  refngees  and  of  ;  'tish  creditors  for  debts  contracted  before 
1775.  lie  was  soon  .wakened  to  the  danger  in  which  delay 
was  involving  his  conn  try.  De  Grasse,  as  he  passed  through 
*  Townsbeud  to  Oswald,  1  September  1V82. 


1 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GRExVT  HUITAIN.  565 

London  on  parole,  bron^^ht  from  Shollnirne  to  Vorgonnos  mes- 
sages, which  left  Spain  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  peace. 
To  conciliate  that  power.  Jay  was  invited  to  Versailles,  where, 
on  the  fourth  of  Septernber,  liayneval,  the  chief  assistant  oi 
Vergennes,  sought  to  pers.iade  him  to  resign  for  his  country 
all  pi-etensions  to  the  eastern  valley  of  the;  Mississippi,  and 
with  it  the  right  to  the  navigation  of  that  stream.  Jay  was 
inflexible,  (Jn  the  sixth,  Kayneval,  with  perfect  frankness, 
sent  him  a  ))aper  containing  a  long  argmnent  against  the  pre- 
tensions of  America  to  touch  the  Mississippi  or  the  great 
lakes ;  and  on  the  next  morning,  after  an  interview  with  the 
Spanish  and)assador,  he  set  olf  f(jr  England  to  establish  a  good 
understanding  with  Shelbumc. 

liayneval  passed  through  London  directly  to  Bow  Wood 
Park,  the  country  seat  of  Shelburne,  in  the  west  of  England. 
"  I  trust  what  you  say  as  much  as  if  Mr.  do  Vergennes  himself 
were  speaking  to  me,"  were  words  with  which  he  was  made 
welcome.  "  Gibraltar,"  insinuated  Kayneval,  "  is  as  dear  to  the 
king  of  Spain  as  his  life."  Shelburne  ans\vered  :  "  Its  cession 
is  impossible:  I  dare  not  propose  it  to  tlie  British  nation." 
"  Spain  wishes  to  become  complete  mistress  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,"  continued  Rayneval.  On  this  point  Shelburne 
opened  the  way  for  concession,  saying :  "  It  is  not  by  way  of 
Florida  that  we  carry  on  our  contraband  trade,  but  by  way  of 
.Jamaica."  Shelburne  declared  his  resolve  to  accept  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States,  and  without  any  reservation. 
"As  to  the  fisheries,"  observed  Kayneval,  agreeing  exactly 
with  the  instructions  of  Livingston  of  the  seventh  and  the  re- 
port of  the  committee  of  congress  of  the  eighth  of  the  preced- 
ing January,*  "there  is  one  sure  principle  to  follow:  the 
fishery  on  the  high  seas  is  res  millius,  the  property  of  no  one ; 
the  fishery  on  the  coast  belongs  of  right  to  the  proprietaries  of 
the  coasts,  unless  there  have  been  derogations  founded  upon 
treaties.  As  to  boundaries,  the  Bntish  minister  will  find  in  the 
negotiations  of  ITo-i,  relative  to  the  Oliio,  the  boundaries  which 
England,  then  the  sovereign  of  the  thirtuon  United  States, 
thought  proper  to  assign  them  "  To  these  insinuations  Shel- 
burne, true  to  his  words  to  Franklin,  made  no  response.    Ee- 

^  DiplumalicCorrespondeiiui!,  iii.,  275,  270  ;  Secret  Journals  of  Congress,  iii.,  164. 


* 


50(3 


THE  AMERICAN  .t?I:VOLUTIO.^. 


).   i:! 


jectin^Ulio  inodiiitioii  ofTei'tMl  by  Austria  and  Enssia,  Sliclbumo 
said  :  "  To  make  peace,  there  is  lu^od  of  l)iit  three  jiersoiis— 
myself,  the  Count  do  \'er^^ennes,  and  you."  ''I  sliall  be  as 
pacilic  in  ne^^otiatin<>-  as  1  shall  be  active  for  war,  if  war  nuist 
be  continued,"  ho  added  on  the  fourteentli.  Eayneval  re- 
plied:  "Count  do  Vergennes  will,  without  ceasing,  preach 
justice  and  moderation.  It  is  his  own  code,  and  it  is  that 
of  the  king."  On  the  fifteenth  they  both  came  up  to  Lon- 
don, where,  on  the  sixteenth,  Kayneval  met  Lord  Grantham. 
Nothing  could  be  more  decided  than  Grantham's  refusal  to 
treat  about  Gibraltar.  On  the  seventeenth,  as  Shelburno  bade 
farewell  to  Eaynevul,  he  observed,  in  the  most  serious  tone 
and  the  most  courteous  manner :  "  I  have  been  deeply  touched 
by  everything  you  have  said  to  me  about  the  character  of  the 
king  of  France,  his  principles  of  justice  and  moderation,  his 
love  of  peace.  1  wish  not  only  to  re-establish  peace  between 
the  two  nations  and  the  two  sovereigns,  but  to  bring  them  to  a 
cordiality  which  Avill  constitute  their  reciprocal  happiness. 
Not  only  are  they  not  natural  enemies,  as  men  have  thought 
till  now,  but  they  have  interests  which  ought  to  bring  them 
nearer  together.  Wo  have  each  lost  consideration  in  our  fu- 
rious desire  to  di^  each  other  harm.  Let  us  change  princi])les 
that  are  so  erroneous.  Let  us  reunite,  and  we  shall  stop  all 
revolutions  in  Europe."  I'y  revolutions  he  meant  the  further 
division  of  Poland,  the  cncroachmcMits  on  Tm-key,  and  the  at- 
temi)t  of  the  court  of  A^ieima  to  bring  Italy  under  its  control 
by  seizing  the  harbors  of  Dalmatia. 

"  There  is  another  object,"  continued  Shelliurne,  "  which 
makes  a  ])art  of  my  political  views  ;  and  that  is  the  destruction 
of  monopoly  in  commeroe.  T  regard  that  monopoly  as  odious, 
though  the  English  nation,  moi-e  than  any  otlier,  is  tainted 
^•ith  it.  1  flatter  myself  I  shall  be  able  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  your  court  upon  this  subject,  as  well  as  u]ion  our 
political  amalgamation.  I  have  spoken  to  the  king  on  all  these 
points.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that,  when  we  shall  have 
made  peace,  the  nuist  frank  cordiality  will  be  estal)lis]ied  be- 
tween the  two  princes."  Iwayneval  answered:  "Your  pi-in- 
cijiles  on  trade  accord  exactly  with  those  of  Franco  ;  Count  do 
Vergennes  thinks  that  freedom  is  the  soul  of  commerce ; "  and 


i:u 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  507 

lie  returned  to  Paris  "  in  raptures  "  at  liis  reception,  and  at 
"tlie  ciuidor,  liberality,  and  f raidaics.s  "  of  Lord  Shelburne. 

In  America  Jay  liad  been  the  favorite  of  the  French  min- 
ister, and  an  enthusiast  for  the  triple  aUiance  between  France, 
Spain,  and  tiie  United  States ;  had  been  moderate  in  his  desire 
for  territory ;  and,  on  fifteen  divisions  in  con<ifress,  had  given 
his  vote  against  making  the  fisheries  a  condition  of  ])eace.  In 
1778  the  influence  of  France  had  been  used  to  elect  him  presi- 
dent of  congress.  His  illusions  as  to  Spain  and  FraTice  being 
dispelled,  he  passed  from  excessive  confidence  to  the  general 
suspiciousness  which  confuses  the  judgment.  The  English 
increased  that  mistrust  by  comimmicating  to  him  a  translation 
of  an  intercepted  letter  from  ]\rari)ois,  the  young  secretarv  of 
the  French  legation  at  Phi]adeli)hia,  in  which  the  claims  of 
the  United  States  to  the  fisheries  were  questioned. 

Oswald,  who  held  constant  interviews  with  Jay,  reported 
him  as  "leaning  favoraldy  to  England."  At  the  British  com- 
missioner's instance,  and  in  part  using  words  of  John  Adams, 
ho  gave  in  writing,  as  his  only  condition,  that  he  and  his  col- 
leagues should  bo  styled  "commissioners  or  persons  vested 
with  equal  powers  by  and  on  the  part  of  the  thirteen  United 
States  of  America."  With  that  one  change  he  pledged  him- 
self to  accept  the  old  commission,  saying :  "  That  inunediately 
upon "  its  "  coming  over  they  would  proceed  in  the  treaty ; 
would  not  be  long  about  it ;  and  perhaps  would  not  be  over- 
hard  in  the  conditions."  * 

Assuming  to  speak  for  the  whole  commission,  and  having 
no  personal  acquaintance  with  any  one  of  the  I'ritish  ministry, 
Jay  i)ersua(led  J>enjaniin  Vaughan,  an  inferior  and  casual  agent 
in  the  British  ])ay  who  had  the  special  confidence  neither  of 
Shelburne,  nor  of  Fraiddin,  nor  of  Oswald,t  to  ask  Shelburne 

*  Oswald  to  Scorptary  Townshcml,  10  September  1782,  and  Oswald  to  Shel- 
burne, 11  September  1782. 

t  Lord  Shelbuiiie  to  R.  Oswald,  3  September  1782.  Rxtniet :  "Ilia"  [M-. 
Vaughan's]  "intention  was  to  return  in  two  days.  He  lina  staiil  at  the  earnest 
desire  of  Dr.  Fraiddin.  I  liiive  had  sever.tl  letters  from  him.  They  eontain  no 
return  of  eontidenee  from  Dr.  Franklin  wliatever,  nor  any  account  how  far  hi.s 
communication  went,  but  anecdotes  of  the  day,  which  I  hope  were  picked  up 
rather  from  tlic  convor.-atiui.  Dr.  rriiuklin'.s  fauilly  tliuu  his  u\wi,  as  they  were 
more  calculated  to  intimidate  mua  to  gain.     I  have  never  written  to  him."     0* 


I 


!  I 

ll'i 


568 


THE  AMERICAIf  REVOLUTION.       ep.  v.  ;  en.  vii. 


V'4 


IT  m 


by  letter  to  await  Lis  arrival  before  taldng  measures  ^viih  Eay- 
neval.  The  envoy  of  Jay  was  further  to  bear  from  hiin  to 
Shelburne  this  verbal  message:  "It  appears  to  be  the  ob- 
vious interest  of  Great  Britain  to  cut  the  cords  which  tie  us  to 
France ;  by  our  consenting  to  the  nmtual  free  navigation  of  our 
several  lakes  and  rivers,  there  would  be  an  inland  navigation 
from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  that  of  Mexico,  by  means  of 
which  the  inhabitants  west  and  north  of  the  mountains  might 
with  more  ease  be  supplied  with  foreign  commodities  than  from 
poi*ts  on  the  Atlantic,  and  this  immense  anl  growing  trade 
would  be  in  a  manner  lyionopolized  by  Great  Britain  ;  there- 
fore, the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  would  in  future  be  no 
less  important  to  Great  Britain  than  to  us."  In  this  unso- 
licited intercourse  with  the  chief  minister  of  Great  Britain, 
without  the  consent  or  knowledge  of  his  colleague,  without 
authority  from  his  government  by  commission,  instructions, 
or  letter,  and  without  any  equivalent,  unless  it  were  a  new 
commission  to  Oswald,  Jay  offered  to  give  away  to  Great  Brit- 
ain the  erpial  rlglit  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  coup- 
ling the  oifer  with  a  highly  colored  promise  of  unbounded 
benefits  to  British  commerce. 

His  messenger  was  further  enjoined  "to  impress  Lord  Shel- 
burne wdth  the  necessity  and  policy  of  taking  a  decided  and 
manly  part  respecting  America."  * 

Franklin,  using  no  methods  of  persuasion  but  the  influence 

wald  to  Shelburne,  8  September  1782.  Extract:  "Only  having  montionccl  one 
gentleman's  name,  the  Doctor  seemed  to  wish  that  it  might  not  be  supposied  that 
his  long  stay  here  was  owing  to  him,  for,  exceiUing  the  first  two  days,  he  had  not 
said  a  word  to  him  on  l.isincss."  Shelburrc  to  R.  Oswald  (private),  31  Dceonibor 
1782.  Extract:  "I  have  received  some  letters  from  Mr.  Vaiighan  relative  to  the 
American  connnissioners,  which  I  cannot  possibly  understand.  I  believe  you  arc 
already  apprized  that  I  have  abstained  most  scrupulously  from  writing  a  single 
line  to  Taris  to  any  person  except  to  you  and  V  Fitzhorbert.  I  sui)posc  you 
therefore  cannot  be  ignorant  that  Mr.  Vaughan's  st.ay  at  Paris  is  not  owing  to 
me.  I  will  venture  to  tell  you  that  it  has  been  at  the  desire  of  Dr.  Franklin. 
But  as  I  find  it  has  been  and  continues  to  be  interpreted  to  be  mine,  I  wish  this 
apprehension  removed.  I  concin\e  it  will  be  best  and  rpiietest  accomphshed  by 
his  return."  Shelburne  to  Oswald,  21  October  1782.  Extract:  "lam  disposed 
to  expect  everything  from  Dr.  Franklin's  comprehensive  understanding  and  char- 
acter.  And,  as  I  know  nothing  to  the  contrary,  I  am  open  to  every  good  imprea- 
sio!)  y.-^u  give  uh  of  Mr.  Jay." 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  viii.,  105-103. 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  569 

derived  nom  the  respect  and  confidence  in  whicli  lie  wa&  ueld 
bj  Sliellmrne  and  both  tlie  British  secretaries  of  state,  at  tliis 
time  interposed.  Lord  Grantham,  the  British  secretary  of  state 
for  the  foreign  department,  had  assured  hiin  by  letter  that  "  the 
establishment  of  an  honorable  and  lasting  peace  was  the  system 
of  the  ministers."  "  I  know  it  to  be  the  sincere  desire  of  the 
United  States,"  replied  Franklin  on  the  eleventh ;  "  and  with 
such  dispositions  on  both  sides  there  is  reasijn  to  hope  that  the 
good  work  in  its  progress  will  meet  with  little  difficulty.  A 
small  one  has  occurred,  with  which  Mr.  Oswald  will  accpiaint 
you.  I  flatter  myself  that  means  will  be  found  on  your  part 
for  removing  it,  and  my  best  endeavors  in  removing  subse- 
quent ones  (if  any  should  arise)  may  be  relied  on  ; "  but  Frank- 
lin neither  criminated  France,  nor  compromised  himself,  nor 
his  coinitry,  nor  his  colleague. 

On  the  fourteenth  Grantham  and  Townshend  received  the 
letters  written  them  on  the  tenth  and  eleventh  by  Oswald  and 
by  Franklin.  A  meeting  of  the  whole  cabinet  was  called  as 
soon  as  possible  ;  Dunning,  the  great  lawyer,  gave  the  opinion 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the  title  chosen 
by  the  American  commissioners  should  be  accepted  by  Os- 
v.'Ad  under  the  king's  delegated  authority,  or  directly  by  the 
king.  They  then  yielded  to  the  representations  of  Franklin 
and  Oswald.*  A  second  commission  was  drafted  for  Oswald 
to  conciude  a  peace  or  truce  with  eonnnissioners  of  the  thir- 
teen United  States  of  America,  which  were  enumerated  one 
by  one,  but  the  acknowledgment  of  their  independence  Wi.s 
still  reserved  to  form  the  fii-st  article  of  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  they  were  called  "  colonies  or  pUmtations  "  as  before.  The 
delay  had  given  time  to  British  creditors  and  to  the  refugees 
to  muster  their  strength  and  embarrass  the  negotiation  by  their 
importunities.  Tiie  king  said  :  "  I  am  so  much  agitated  with 
a  fear  of  sacrificing  the  interests  of  niy  covmtry,  by  hurrying 
peace  on  too  fast,  that  I  am  unable  to  add  anythihg  on  that 
subject  but  the  most  frequent  prayers  to  heaven  to  guide  me 

*  Townshend  to  Os^yal(l,  20  September  1782 :  "  A  meeting  of  the  king's  confi- 
dential servants  was  hold  as  soon  as  possible  to  consider  the  contents  of  your 
patkels,  and  d  waH  at  once  agreed  to  make  the  alterations  in  the  commissioa  pro- 
posed to  you  by  Mr,  Jay." 


t  i 

'I' 


I 


f:- 


1 1 


570 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


EP.  V. ;  on.  VII. 


il 


*,'r 
I! 


80  to  act,  tliat  posterity  may  not  lay  the  downfall  of  this  once 
respectable  eni})ire  to  iny  door;  and  that,  if  ruin  should  attend 
the  measures  that  may  be  adopted,  I  may  not  long  survive 
them." 

Ou  the  twenty-sixth  of  September,  Aranda,  in  comi^any 
with  Lafayette,  encountered  Jay  at  Yersailles.  Aranda  asked : 
"  "When  shall  we  proceed  to  do  business  ? "  Jay  replied : 
"  AVhen  you  connnunicato  your  powers  to  treat."  "  An  ex- 
change of  conunissions,"  said  Aranda,  "cannot  be  expected, 
for  Spain  has  not  acknowledged  your  independence."  "  We 
have  declared  our  independence,"  said  Jay ;  "  and  France,  Hol- 
land, and  Britain  have  acknowledged  it."  Lafayette  came  to 
his  aid,  and  told  the  ambassador  that  it  was  not  consistent  with 
the  dignity  of  France  that  an  ally  of  hers  like  the  United  States 
should  treat  otherwise  than  as  independent.  Yergennes  pressed 
upon  Jay  a  settlement  of  claims  with  Spain.  Jay  answered :  "  "We 
shall  be  content  Avith  no  boundaries  short  of  the  Mississippi." 

So  soon  as  Oswald  received  his  new  commission  the  ne- 
gotiation, after  the  loss  of  a  month,  moved  forward  rapidly. 
The  system  wliich  Franklin  at  the  opening  of  the  negotiation 
had  established  of  making  a  separate  peace  without  admitting 
Fi'ance  to  a  knowledge  of  its  progress  was  adhered  to.  Jay, 
who  was  a  skilful  lawyer,  and  was  now  resolved  "  never  to  set 
his  name  to  a  peace  that  did  not  secure  the  fisheries,"  drew  up 
its  articles.  The  thirteen  United  States  with  every  part  of 
their  territories  were  acknowledged  to  be  free,  sovereign,  and 
independent ;  their  boundaries  were  determined  according  to 
the  unanimous  instructions  of  congress  which  had  reserved  the 
line  between  Nova  Scotia  and  New  England  for  adjustment 
by  conunissioners  after  the  peace.  The  fishery  in  the  Ameri- 
can seas  was  to  be  freely  exei-cised  by  the  Americans  of  right 
wherever  they  exercised  it  while  united  with  Great  Britain. 
A  clause  provided  for  reciprocal  freedom  of  commerce.  Os- 
wald proposed  articles  protecting  the  refugees  and  English 
creditors,  but  did  not  insist  on  them,  "as  Franklin  declared 
that  whatever  confiscations  had  been  made  in  America  were 
in  virtue  of  the  laws  of  particular  states,  which  congress  had 
no  authority  to  repeal."  TIius  far  the  nrticles  were  those 
which  had  been  agreed  upon  between  Franklin  and  Shclburne. 

r 


It 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  571 


u\ 


Jay,  on  his  own  autliority,  added  tlie  gratuitous  concession  to 
the  British  of  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.*  "  He 
pleaded  in  favor  of  the  future  commerce  of  England  as  if  he 
had  been  of  her  council  and  wished  to  make  some  reparation 
for  her  loss,"  insisting  that  she  should  recover  West  Florida, 
"  engross  the  whole  of  the  supplies  from  Canada  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  particularly  should  embrace  the  whole 
of  the  fur  trade."  f 

On  sending  the  draft  of  the  treaty  to  the  secretary  of  state, 
the  British  plenipotentiary  wrote :  "  I  look  upon  the  treaty  as 
now  closed."  Franklin  and  Jay  agreed  that,  if  it  should  be 
approved,  they  would  sign  it  immediately.  Toward  the  I'rench 
minister  they  maintained  an  absolute  reserve,  not  even  com- 
municating to  him  the  new  commission  of  Oswald,  :j: 

After  the  capture  of  Minorca  by  the  Duke  de  Crillon,  the 
French  and  Spanish  fleets  united  under  his  command  to  reduce 
Gibraltar ;  and  Count  d' Artois,  the  brother  of  the  Idng,  passed 

*  Fianklin,  ix.,  418.  Fraukliii  ignores  the  cession  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi. 

f  Oswald  to  Secretary  Town  hond,  2  October  1782,  and  postscript  of  3  October; 
same  to  same,  5  October  1782;  same  to  same,  7  October  1782.  "Mr.  Jay  -^ame 
again  upon  the  subject  of  W.  Florida,  and  expects  and  insists  that  for  the  com- 
mon good,  our  own  as  well  as  theirs,  it  may  not  be  left  in  the  hands  of  tlie  Span- 
iards, and  thinks  we  ought  to  prepare  immediately  for  the  expedition  to  execute 
it  this  winter."  Extract  from  postscript  of  3  October :  "  Before  we  parted,  this 
gentleman  [Mr.  Jay]  came  again  upon  the  subject  of  West  Florida,  and  pleaded 
in  favor  of  the  future  commerce  of  England,  as  if  he  had  been  of  her  council  and 
wishing  to  make  some  repaiation  for  her  loss.  Amongst  other  things  he  repeated 
that  there  is  water-carriage  by  rivers  or  lakes  all  the  way  within  land  from  Canada 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  excepting  a  few  short  stoppages  of  portage ;  so 
that  for  outward  merchandise  we  might  engross  the  whole  of  their  supplies  for  a 
stretch  of  country  between  two  and  three  thousand  miles.  And  in  like  manner, 
cliiefly  by  means  of  the  Mississippi,  receive  their  country  commodities  in  return, 
and  particularly  should  embrace  the  whole  of  the  fur-trado.  In  all  which  I  am 
satisfied  he  is  well  founded."     Extract  from  dispatch  of  7  October. 

I  On  m'a  assur6  que  les  n^gociations  sur  le  fond  <5taient  entamdes  et  que  le 
pl6nipotentiaire  anglais  etait  assez  coulant.  Mais  je  suis  dans  l'impossibilit6  de 
rieu  vous  dire  de  posit  if  et  de  certain  li  cet  egard,  Messrs.  Jay  et  Franklin  sc 
tenant  dans  la  rdserve  la  plus  absolue  h  mon  ^gard.  lis  ne  m'ont  mome  pas  r 
core  rcmis  copic  du  ploin  pouvoir  de  Mr.  Oswald.  Je  pense,  Monsieur,  qu'il  scrii 
utile  que  vous  disiez  cctte  particularito  i\  Mr.  Livingston,  afin  qu'il  puisse  s'il  le 
juge  k  propos  ramcner  les  deux  pl6nipotcntiaires  amdricains  i^  la  toneur  de  leurs 
instruciioiis.  Vergcuues  to  Luzerne,  14  October  1782.  For  the  instructions,  see 
above,  472,  473. 

yot,.  V— 38 


(I 


X\ 


i! 


11 


572 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.      bp.  v.  ;  on.  vii. 


'i'l, 


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»'   I 


through  Madrid  to  be  present  at  its  surrender.  But  by 
showers  of  red-hot  shot,  and  by  a  most  heroic  sortie  under 
General  Elliot,  tlie  batteries  which  were  thought  to  be  lire- 
proof  were  blown  up  or  consumed,  and  a  fleet  under  Lord 
Howe  was  close  at  hand  to  replenish  the  stores  of  the  fortress. 
The  news  increased  the  clamor  of  Paris  for  peace.  France,  it 
was  said,  is  engaged  in  a  useless  wai  for  thankless  allies ;  she 
hiis  suffered  disgrace  in  the  West  Indies  while  undertaking  to 
concpier  Jamaica  for  Spain,  and  now  shares  in  the  defeat  before 
Gibraltar.  Vergennes,  to  obtain  a  rel  ~ase  from  his  engagement 
to  Spain,  was  ready  to  make  great  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  his 
own  country,  and  to  require  them  of  America.  Congress  was 
meanwhile  instructing  P^ranklin  "  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors 
to  etiect  the  loan  of  four  millions  of  dollars  through  the  gener- 
ous exertions  of  the  king  of  France;"  and  on  the  third  of 
October  it  renewed  its  resolution  to  hearken  to  no  propositions 
for  peace  except  in  confidence  and  in  concert  with  its  ally. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  the  same  month  Vergennes  explained 
to  the  French  envoy  at  Philadelphia  the  policy  of  France :  "  If 
we  are  so  happy  as  to  make  peace,  the  king  must  then  cease  to 
subsidize  the  American  army,  which  ^\■ill  be  as  useless  as  it  has 
been  habitually  inactive.  AVe  are  astonished  at  the  demands 
which  continue  to  be  made  upon  us,  while  the  Americans  ob- 
stinately refuse  the  payment  of  taxes.  It  seems  to  us  much 
more  natural  for  them  to  raise  upon  themselves,  rather  than 
upon  the  subjects  of  the  king,  the  funds  which  their  defence 
exacts."  "  You  know,"  continued  Yergemies,  "  our  system 
with  regard  to  Canada.  Everything  which  shall  prevent  the 
conquest  of  that  country  Avill  agree  essentially  with  our  views. 
But  this  way  of  thinking  ought  to  be  an  impenetrable  secret 
for  the  Americans.  Moreover,  I  do  not  see  by  what  title  the 
Americans  can  form  pretensions  to  lands  on  Lake  Ontario. 
Those  lands  belong  to  the  savages  or  are  a  dependency  of  Can- 
ada. In  either  case,  the  United  States  have  no  right  to  ^,hem 
whatever.  It  has  been  pretty  nearly  demonstrated  that  to  the 
south  of  the  Ohio  their  limits  are  the  mountains  following  the 
shed  of  the  waters,  and  that  everything  to  the  north  of  the 
mountain  range,  esj)eci"Jly  the  lakes,  fonnerly  made  a  part  of 
Canada.     These  notions  are  for  you  alone  ;  you  will  taJie  care 


1782.  PEACE  BETWE?    T  AMERICA  AMD  uREAT  T3RITAIN.  573 

not  to  appear  to  be  informed  about  them,  because  we  the  less 
wish  to  intervene  in  the  discussions  between  the  Count  de 
Aranda  and  Mr.  Jay,  as  botli  parties  claim  countries  to  which 
neither  of  them  has  a  riglit,  and  as  it  will  be  almost  impossible 
to  reconcile  them." 

When  the  first  draft  of  the  treaty  with  the  United  States 
reached  England,  the  offer  of  Jay  of  the  free  navigation  of 
the  :Mississippi  was  gladly  accepted ;  but  that  for  a  reciprocity 
of  navigation  and  commerce  was  put  aside.     The  cabinet  com- 
plained of  Oswald   for  yielding    everything,  and   appointed 
Henry  Straehey,  Townshend's  clear-headed  and  earnest  under- 
secretary of  state,  to  be  hie  assistant.     On  the  twentieth  of  Oc- 
tober, both  of  the  secretaries  of  state  being  present,  Shelburne 
gave  Straehey  three  points  specially  in  charge :  no  concession 
of  a  right  to  dry  fish  on  Newfoundland ;  a  recognition  of  the 
validity  of  debts  to  British  subjects  contracted  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States  before  the  war;  but,  above  all,  security  for 
loyalists,  and  adequate  indemnity  for  the  confiscated  property 
of  the  loyal  refugees.     The  allegation  of  the  Ajuerican  com- 
missioners that  they  had  no  authority  to  restore  the  loyalists  to 
their  old  possessions  was   objected  to  as  a  confession  that, 
though  they  claimed  to  have  full  powers,  they  were  not  pleni- 
potentiaries;   that  they  were  acting  under  thirteen  separate 
sovereignties,  which  had  no  common  head.     Shelljurne  pro- 
posed either  an  extension  of  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Tenobscot  or 
the  Kennebec  or  the  Saco,  so  that  a  province  might  be  formed 
for  the  reception  of  the  loyalists  ;  or  that  some  part  of  the 
revenue  from  sales  of  the  old  crown  lands  within  the  United 
States  might  be  set  apart  for  their  benefit.     To  the  ministry 
it  was  clear  that  peace,  if  to  be  made  by  them  at  all,  must  be 
made  before  the  meeting  of  parliament,  which  had  been  sum- 
moned for  the  twenty-fifth  of  November. 

The  American  commission  Avas,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
October,  recniited  by  the  arrival  of  John  Adams,  its  chief.  It 
had  been  the  proudest  jnoment  of  his  life  when  he  received 
from  congress  the  commission  of  sole  plenipotentiary  for  nego- 
tiating peace  and  conmaerce  between  the  United  States  and 
Oreat^  Britain.  Tlio,  year  in  which  he  was  deprived  of  it  ho 
has  himself  described  as  "the  most  anxious  and  mortifying 


li^ 


674 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,      kp.  v. :  oh.  vii. 


ii. , 


!  Ii 


n  i 


MM 


year  of  his  wliolo  life."  ITo  ascribed  the  change  in  part  to  tlio 
Frcncli  goveruniont,  in  jiart  to  Franklin.  In  his  better  mo- 
ments, even  at  that  day,  he  did  justice  to  France;  toward 
Franklin  he  never  relented.  Both  Franklin  and  John  Adams 
had  dene  great  deeds  which  give  them  a  place  in  the  history 
of  mankind.  The  one  best  imderstood  his  fellow-men  and  how 
to  deal  with  them ;  the  other  the  principles  on  which  free  con- 
stitutions should  be  fonued.  Both  sons  of  Massachusetts,  they 
were  stars  shining  in  the  same  constellation,  and  now  in  fram- 
ing a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  British  empire  each  of  the  two 
seemed  living  not  a  life  of  his  own,  but  as  if  prophetically 
inspired  with  all  the  coming  greatness  of  their  country. 

Adams  came  fresh  from  the  grand  achievement  of  prevail- 
ing on  the  United  Provinces  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  form  with  them  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce; but  his  first  step  in  the  negotiation  at  Paris  was  a 
wrong  one.  Franklin  had  hitherto  warded  off  the  demand 
that  the  treat}'-  of  peace  should  guarantee  to  English  merchants 
the  right;  to  collect  debts  that  had  been  due  to  them  in  the 
United  States,  because  the  British  armies  had  in  many  cases 
robbed  the  merchants  of  the  very  goods  for  which  the  debts 
were  incurred ;  and  had  wantonl  ^  destroyed  the  property  of 
the  planters,  which  would  have  furnished  the  means  oi  pay- 
ment. Moreover,  the  British  themselves  had  confiscated  the 
debts  as  well  as  all  other  propei-ty  of  the  patriots  of  South 
Carolina.  The  day  after  Strachey's  arrival  in  Paris,  Adams, 
encountering  him  and  Oswald  at  the  house  of  Jay,  to  their  sur- 
prise and  delight  gave  his  assent  to  the  proposed  stipulation  in 
behalf  of  British  creditors.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day 
Adams  called  for  the  first  time  on  Franklin,  who  at  once  put 
him  on  his  guard  as  to  the  British  demands  relating  to  debts 
and  the  compensation  of  tories. 

On  the  thirtieth  the  American  commissioners  met  Oswald 
and  Strachey,  and  for  four  several  days  they  discussed  the  un- 
settled jjoints  of  the  treaty. 

Massachusetts  desired  to  extend  to  the  St.  John;  unless 
that  boundary  could  be  obtained,  congress  unanimously  agreed 
the  question  should  be  reserved  for  settlement  by  commission- 
el's  after  the  war.     The  British  commission,  aided  by  a  veteran 


!     i 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  575 

clerk  from  tlio  old  board  of  trade,  were  just  then  striving  to 
wrest  from  Maine  at  least  the  duke  of  York's  old  province  of 
Sagadahoc.  From  habitual  forethought  Adams  had  brought 
with  him  documents  which  were  decisive  on  the  question. 
He  knew  exactly  the  boundary  of  his  native  state  on  the  east 
and  north-east;  lie  listened  to  no  suggestion  of  delay  in  ita 
adoption;  he  asked  no  extension  of  the  true  boundary;  he 
scorned  to  accept  less.  His  colleagues  gladly  deferred  to  him. 
To  gain  the  influence  of  France  he  sought  an  interview  with 
Vergennes,  and,  by  the  papers  and  maps  which  he  submitted, 
secured  his  adhesion.  The  line  wliich  Adams  vindicated  found 
its  place  in  the  treaty  without  further  dispute  or  cavil. 

The  British  commissioners  denied  to  the  Americans  the 
right  of  drying  fish  on  Newfoundland.  This  was,  after  a  great 
deal  of  conversation,  submitted  to  upon  condition  that  the 
American  fishermen  should  be  allowed  to  dry  their  fish  on 
any  unsettled  parts  of  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia.  Franklin 
said  further:  "I  observe  as  to  catching  fish  you  mention 
only  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  "Why  not  all  other  places, 
and  among  others  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  ?  Are  you  afraid 
there  are  not  fish  enough,  or  that  we  should  catch  too  many, 
at  the  same  time  that  you  know  that  we  shall  bring  the  o-reat- 
est  part  of  the  money  we  get  for  that  fish  to  Great  Britain  to 
pay  for  your  manufactures  ? "  And  this  enlargement  was  im- 
bodied  in  the  new  article  on  the  fisheries. 

On  the  fourth  of  November,  Adams  and  Jay  definitively 
overniled  the  well-grounded  objections  of  Franklin  to  the  re- 
cognition by  treaty  of  the  validity  of  debts  contracted  before 
the  war ;  thus  involving  the  couiitry  in  grievous  difficulties  by 
inserting  in  the  treaty  a  clause  to  which  the  United  States  as 
then  constituted  had  no  power  to  give  effect.  Strachey  wrote 
to  the  secretary  of  state  that  Jay  and  Adams  wou! '  in  like 
manner  assent  to  the  indemnification  of  the  refugees  rather 
than  break  off  the  treaty.  Franklin  saw  and  averted  the  danger. 
In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Secretary  Townshend,  having  in  his 
mind  the  case  of  the  refugees,  he  deprecated  any  instructions 
to  the  British  negotiators  ' ,.  would  involve  an  irreconcilable 
conflict  with  those  of  Amei ..a.  At  tlie  same  time  he  persuaded 
Adams  and  Jay  to  join  with  him  in  letters  to  Oswald  and  to 


676 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       kp.  y. ;  oh.  vu. 


!H 


''i-\\ 


Strachoy,  expressing  in  conciliatory  language  their  unanimous 
sentiments  that  an  amnesty  moro  extensive  than  what  liad 
alrea<ly  been  agreed  to  could  not   be  granted  to  the  refu- 


* 


gees, 

Before  Strachey  reached  London  witli  the  second  set  of 
articles  for  peace,  the  friends  of  Fox  had  forgotten  their  zeal 
for  American  independence.  All  parties  unanimously  de- 
manded amnesty  and  indenmity  for  the  loyalists.  Within  the 
cabinet,  Camden  and  Grafton  were  restless,  while  Richmond 
and  Keppell  were  preparing  to  renounce  their  places.f  The 
king  could  not  avoid  mentioning  "  how  sensibly  he  felt  the  dis- 
memberaient  of  America  from  the  empire : "  "I  should  be 
miserable  indeed,"  he  said,  "  if  I  did  not  feel  that  no  blame  on 
that  account  can  be  laid  at  my  door ;  it  may  not  in  the  end  be 
an  evil  that  its  inhalntants  will  I  ^  ^oiue  aliens  to  this  kingdom." 

Townshend  and  William  Pitt  remained  true  to  Shelbume ; 
and  a  third  set  of  articles  was  prepared,  to  which  these  three 
alone  gave  their  approval  in  writing. 

The  ]\Iissi.s3ipi)i  was  accepted  by  the  British  as  the  Ameri- 
can boundary  on  the  west ;  but  it  remained  to  the  last  to  settle 
the  point  where  the  United  States  would  touch  the  north- 
western boundary  of  Canada.  In  the  first  set  of  articles 
agreed  on  between  the  American  commissioners  and  Oswald 
the  line  from  the  Connecticut  at  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of 
north  latitude  was  drawn  due  west  on  that  ])arallel  to  the  river 
St.  Lawrence,  thence  to  the  south  end  of  tlie  lake  Nipising, 
and  thence  straight  to  the  source  of  the  river  Mississippi. 
This  would  have  given  the  United  States  a  part  of  upper 
Canada,  and  found  no  favor  in  England.  In  the  articles  taken 
to  England  by  Strachey  the  line  proceeded  due  west  from 
the  Connecticut  on  the  forty-fifth  parallel  till  it  should  strike 
the  river  Mississippi.  At  the  last  moment  the  question  was 
determined  in  England  by  the  British  ministry,  without  any 

*  "  If  it  depended  on  my  vote,  I  would  cut  this  knot  at  once.  I  would  com- 
pcnsatc  the  wretches,"  etc.  J.  Adams  to  Jonathan  Jackson,  17  November  1782. 
Works,  ix.,  516.  "  Dr.  Franklin  is  very  stanch  against  the  tories ;  more  decided  a 
great  deal  on  this  point  than  ^Ir.  Jay  or  raysc>lf."  Diary  of  John  Adams,  26 
November  1782.  Works,  iii.,  332.  Works  of  J.  Adams,  iii.,  330.  Works  of 
Franklin,  ix.,  420   133. 

f  Almou's  Debates,  xxv.,  180. 


hv 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  577 

suggestions  wliatevcr  from  the  United  States.  On  French 
maps  of  1755,  pul)lisihe(l  before  the  seven  years'  war,  the  Lalce 
of  the  Woods  was  the  limit  of  (,^anada  on  tJu-  nortli-west ;  the 
north-westeramost  point  of  that  lalve  was  chosen  as  the  north- 
westernmost  point  of  the  United  States,  and  was  reached  by 
a  line  continued  through  the  centre  of  the  water-course  of 
the  great  lakes  to  the  north.  By  the  article  on  the  fishery,  as 
proposed  by  the  British,  the  Americans  were  not  to  take  fish 
within  three  leagues  of  any  Britisli  coast,  and  by  an  arbitrary 
restriction,  copied  from  former  treaties  with  France,  they  were 
not  to  take  fish  within  fifteen  leagues  of  Cape  Breton.  Not 
only  indemnity  for  the  estates  of  the  refugees,  but  for  the  pro- 
prietary rigiits  and  properties  of  the  Benns  and  the  heirs  of 
Lord  Baltimore,  was  demanded.  "  If  they  insist  in  the  plea 
of  the  want  of  power  to  treat  of  these  subjects,"  said  Town- 
shend,  "you  wiU  intimate  to  them  in  a  proper  manner  that 
they  are  driving  us  to  a  necessity  of  applying  directly  to  those 
who  are  allowed  to  have  the  power." 

"  If  the  American  commissioners  think  that  they  will  gain 
oj  the  whole  coming  before  parliament,  I  do  not  imagine  tliat 
the  refugees  will  have  any  objections,"  added  Shelburue.  Fitz- 
herbert  was  instructed  to  take  part  in  the  American  negotia- 
tions ;  and,  with  his  approval  and  that  of  Strachej^  Oswald  was 
emnowercd  to  sign  a  treaty.  Authority  was  given  to  Fitzher- 
bert  to  invoke  the  iuHuence  of  France  to  bend  the  Americans. 
Yergennes  had  especially  pleaded  with  them  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  refugees.  Parliament  was  prorogued  to  the  fifth  of  De- 
cember, in  the  hope  the  terras  of  the  treaty  might  be  settled 
before  that  day. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  the  final  instructions  to  Oswald 
were  written  Vergennes  declared  in  a  letter  to  Luzerne: 
"  There  exists  in  our  treaties  no  condition  which  obliges  the 
king  to  prolong  the  war  in  order  to  sustain  the  ambitious  pre- 
tensions which  the  United  States  may  form  in  reference  to  the 
fishery  or  the  extent  of  their  boundaries."*     France  would 

*  "  Elle  a  donno  occasion  Ma  pltipart  des  d616sii69  de  s'cxpliquer  d'une  manifire 
d<!cente  et  convenablc  .«iir  leur  fidulitc  h.  ralliunce  et  sur  lour  attachcmcnt  k  en 
remplir  toutea  Ics  conditions,  Lc  Roi  nr>  scva  pa-  moins  exact  h  lea  tciiir  dc  son 
c6t6,  mais  il  n'en  esiste  aucunc  dans  nos  trait6s  qui  I'oblige  i  piolonger  la  guerre 


578 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTIOX.       kp.  v. ;  en.  vii. 


'■  i 


not  prolong  tlio  war  to  secure  to  the  Americans  tlieir  extension 
to  the  Mississippi  or  the  fisheries  ;  the  Americans  were  still 
loss  hound  to  continue  the  war  to  ohtaiti  (Jihraltar  for  Spain. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  the  king  was 
urging  Shclhumo  to  confide  to  Vergennos  his  "ideas  con- 
cerning America,"  saying,  "  France  must  wish  to  assist  us  in 
keeping  the  Americana  frotn  a  concurrent  Hshery,  which  the 
looseness  of  the  article  with  that  jieopie  as  now  drawn  up 
gives  hut  too  much  room  to  apprehend."  Before  Shelhurne 
could  have  received  the  admonition,  Adams,  Franklin,  and 
Jay  met  Oswald  and  Strachey  at  Oswald's  lodgings.  Strachey 
opened  the  parley  by  an  elaborate  speech,  in  which  he  ex- 
plained his  objections  to  the  article  on  the  fisheries,  and  that 
"  the  restitution  of  the  property  of  the  htyalists  was  the 
grand  point  upon  which  a  final  settl"ment  depended.  If  the 
treaty  should  break  oiT,  the  whole  business  must  go  loose  and 
take  its  chance  in  parliament."  Jay  wished  to  know  if  Os- 
wald could  now  conclude  the  treaty ;  and  Strachey  answered 
that  he  could,  absolutely.  Jay  desired  to  know  if  the  proposi- 
tions he  had  brought  were  an  ultimatum.  Strachey  seemed 
ioath  to  answer,  but  at  last  said  "  no."  That  day,  and  the 
three  following  ones,  the  discussion  was  continued. 

On  the  twenty-ninth,  Oswald,  Fitzhorbert,  and  Strachey 
on  the  one  side,  and  Adams,  Franklin,  Jay,  and,  for  the  first 
tim'^,  Laurens  on  the  other,  came  together  at  the  apartments 
of  Jay.  "  The  articles  of  the  boundaries  remained  exactly  the 
same  as  in  the  draft  sent  over  from  England."  *  The  Ameri- 
can commissioners  agreed  that  there  should  be  no  future 
prosecutions  of  loyalists  or  confiscations  of  their  pi-opcrty ;  that 
all  pending  prosecutions  shoidd  be  discontinued;  and  that 
congress  should  recommend  to  the  several  states  and  their 
legislatures,  on  behalf  of  the  refugees,  anmesty  and  the  restitu- 
tion of  their  confiscated  property.  Strachey  thought  this  arti- 
cle better  than  any  of  the  modifications  proposed  in  England, 
and  congratulated  himself  on  his  success. 

pour  soutonir  Ics  prdtentions  ambiticuscs  que  les  l5tats-TJnis  pcuvcnt  former,  soit 
par  rapport  A.  la  pCche,  soit  par  rapport  b,  l'6tendue  des  limites."  Vergeunes  to 
Luzerne,  23  NoviMtiher  17S2. 

*  Fitzherbert  to  Grantham,  29  November  1782. 


I 


1782.   PEACt;  between  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


579 


Agivinst  tlio  Ilritlsh  draft  of  tlio  article  on  the  fisheries 
John  Adiuns,  with  the  Kteatly  and  efficient  support  of  Franklin 
and  of  Jay,  spoko  with  the  more  effect,  as  it  introduced  an  ar- 
bitrary restriction ;  and  he  declared  he  would  not  set  his  hand 
to  the  treaty  uidess  the  limitations  were  striclren  out.  After 
long  altercations  the  article  was  reduced  to  the  form  in  which 
it  appears  in  the  treaty,  granting  to  the  United  States  equal 
rights  with  I'rifish  fishermen  to  take  fish  on  the  cojist  of  New- 
foundland, and  on  the  coasts,  bays,  and  creeks  of  all  other 
British  dominions  in  America. 

The  inlluenco  of  Oswald  was  strongly  exerted  in  favor 
of  signing  tlie  treaty  immediately.  He  could  do  it  only  with 
the  consent  of  Fitzherbert  and  Strachey ;  and  thoy  gave  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  consult  the  government 
at  home.  "AVe  can  wait,"  answered  Adams,  "till  a  courier 
goes  to  London."  The  reference  would  have  carried  the  whole 
matter  into  parliament,  and  so  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  ne- 
gotiation. Frankliii  saw  the  danger,  and  intei-posed :  "  If  any 
further  delay  should  be  made,  the  clause  insuring  to  the  sub- 
jects of  Great  Britain  the  right  of  recovering  their  debts  in 
the  United  States  must  also  be  reconsidered."  But  on  this 
article  Strachey  prided  himself  as  his  great  achievement ;  and, 
rather  than  expose  it  to  risk,  he  joined  with  Oswald.  Fitz- 
herbert, now  left  alone,  reflected  that  peace  with  the  United 
States  would  l)o  the  best  means  of  forcing  France  and  Spain 
to  declare  their  ultimatum ;  and  he,  too,  gave  his  consent. 

Thus  far,  no  word  in  the  convention  had  directly  alluded 
to  the  existence  of  slavery  in  the  United  States.  On  the  thir- 
tieth, at  the  demand  of  Laurens,  in  the  engrossed  copies  of  the 
convention  a  clause  was  interlined  prohibiting,  on  the  British 
evacuation,  the  "  carrying  away  any  negroes  or  other  prop- 
erty of  the  inhabitants."  So  the  instrument,  which  already 
contained  a  confession  that  the  United  States  were  not  formed 
into  one  nation,  made  known  that  in  their  confederacy 
man  could  be  held  as  a  chattel ;  but,  as  interpreted  alike  in 
America  and  England,  it  included  free  negroes  among  their 
citizens.  By  a  separate  article,  a  line  of  north  boundary  be- 
tween West  Florida  and  the  United  States  was  concerted,  in 
case  Great  Britain  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  should  be  in 


580 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.       ep.  v.  ;  on.  vn. 


I'  r  1 

ii 
I 


Vli 


M  I 


Iri 

!p!i 


;  I 


possession  of  that  province.  Out  of  respect  to  the  alliance 
between  the  United  States  and  France,  the  treaty  was  not  to 
be  made  definitive  until  terms  of  peace  should  have  been 
agreed  upon  between  Great  J3ritaiu  and  France;  with  this 
reservation  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  Great  Britain  was  signed  and  sealed  by  the  com- 
missioners of  both  countries.  To  prevent  future  dispute,  the 
boundaries  of  the  new  nation  were  marked  interchangeably  by 
a  strong  line  on  copies  of  the  map  of  America  by  Mitchell. 

The  treaty  which  ruled  the  fate  of  a  hemisphere  was  large- 
ly due  to  Lord  Shelburne  and  his  early  and  never-failing  con- 
fidence in  "  the  comprehensive  understanding  and  character  of 
Franklin."  Friends  of  Franklin  gathered  around  him;  and 
as  the  Duke  de  la  Eochefoucauld  kissed  him  for  joy,  "My 
friend,"  said  Franklin,  "  could  I  have  hoped  at  such  an  age  to 
have  enjoyed  so  great  happiness  ? "  The  treaty  in  its  main 
features  was  not  a  compromise,  nor  a  compact  imposed  by 
force,  but  a  free  and  perfect  and  perpetual  settlement.  By 
doing  justice  to  her  former  colonies,  England  rescued  her  lib- 
erties at  home  and  opened  the  way  for  their  slow  but  certain 
development.  The  selHsh  policy  of  taxing  colonies  by  parlia- 
ment which  had  led  to  the  cruel  and  unnatural  war  v-lth 
America  was  cast  nside  and  forever ;  Great  Britain,  hencefor- 
ward as  the  great  colonizing  power,  was  to  sow  all  the  oceans 
with  the  seed  of  republics.  For  the  United  States,  the  war, 
which  began  by  an  encounter  with  a  few  husbandmen  embat- 
tled on  Lexington  green,  ended  with  independence,  and  the 
possession  of  the  continent  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  south- 
western I\[ississippi,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  St. 
Mary's.  In  time  past,  republics  had  been  confined  to  cities 
and  their  dependencies,  or  to  small  cantons ;  the  United  States 
of  America  avowed  themselves  able  to  fill  a  continental  terri- 
tovj  with  connnonwealths.  They  possessed  beyond  any  other 
portion  of  the  world  the  great  ideas  of  their  age,  and  every 
individual  was  at  liberty  to  apply  them  in  thouglit  and  action. 
They  could  shape  their  institutions  by  the  exercise  of  the 
right  inherent  in  humanity  to  free  deliberntion,  choice,  and 
assent.  Yet  Avhilc  the  constitutions  of  their  separate  mem- 
bers, resting  on  the  principle  of  self-direction,  were,  in  most 


it! 


1782.   PEACE  BETWEEN  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN.  581 

respects,  the  best  in  the  world,  they  had  no  general  govern- 
ment ;  and,  as  they  went  forth  upon  untried  paths,  the  states- 
men of  Europe  looked  to  see  the  confederacy  fly  into  frag- 
ments, or  lapse  into  anarchy.  Ihit,  notwithstanding  the  want 
of  a  governtnent  for  the  collective  inhabitants  of  the  thirteen 
states,  their  mutual  inter-citizenship,  their  unrestricted  free 
trade  among  themselves,  ana  their  covenant  of  perpetual 
union,  made  them  one  people,  to  whom  tlie  consciousness  of 
creative  power  gave  the  sure  promise  of  a  more  perfect  con- 
stitution. 


EKD   OF    VOLUME   V 


